Panda and Chocolate goes fusion
by Iscatian
Summary: NejiTen. Beware of OOC-ness. Tenten starts high school. On her way she bumps into... Yes who? Stalkers, youth and glacial passion. Where will this end? Another High School story to add to your collection. Warning: The chapters get longer in the end.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Hello readers. I have now figured out how to do an Author's Note. Go me! Thank you so much all of you who has reviewed, put as favorite or on alert!! You can't imagine how happy you made me. Although I can't understand you considering how crappy the first version of this chapter was (according to me). I just put it up because I had promised a friend of mine to start on my story by the end of last week.

Special Thanks (and cookies) to: Suki Secret, mmm.waffles, FreeBird45, Princess of Storms and SomeRandomThing

* * *

Morning. The sun is shining in through my window and I can hear birdsong. I yawn and turn in my bed wrapping the covers closer around me. Summer break is the nicest thing in the whole world. This feels so good, I can stay here for the rest of the day…

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

I jump. Damn it. Why have I set the alarm today? I hesitatingly stretch out my arm to turn it off when it hits me: First Day of High School. Instead of just pushing the button I throw my alarm clock out the window (for some lucky reason it is open) and leap into my bathroom and then downstairs into the kitchen with my uniform on and my brown hair up in two buns.

I find my sister sitting at the table reading Konoha Daily. She glances at her watch.

"New record Tenten, 2.24. Here." She throws me a banana without even looking at me.

"You have exactly 2 minutes and 26 seconds to get to school."

"What? I thought I had set it 10 minutes before?" I gasp. Usually I set the alarm 10 minutes before i start school. I don't use much time in the morning, and if I walk fast it only takes me six minutes to get to School. Besides, I don't care that much of what the teachers think.

"Well, since its your first day I thought we should celebrate it with a challenge, so I re-set your alarm to five minutes before... And I do hope that you are aware of that Konoha High School is twenty minutes away by bike, and that you have a flat tire." She takes a sip of her coffee.

"Can…" I started.

"No you may not use my bike. Good luck."

I don't bother wasting anymore time. I just run. She will feel my wrath later. After all, they say revenge is a dish best served cold.

Nami sniggers as her little sister runs out the door. Perhaps it was a bit mean of her. But now Tenten won't be late as always. And she is pretty tired of the calls from the principal. Even Tenten can't be late for school if she runs from the house an hour before it starts.

* * *

It is nice weather today, I notice as I try to take a bite of my banana while running. That is good. After all, it is better running for your life when the sky is blue and a cool wind is blowing. At least it is nice until you run into somebody. Hard. Considering I am going at full speed it is a miracle he doesn't fall over with the same elegance as I do: head 5 inches buried in the ground, ass in the air and my banana probably halfway to Sunagakure. With a 'plop' my head comes out.

"Ouch." I rub my back with my hand looking around for the the hindrance that was going to get a piece of my mind. Oh yes, he would wish he had never been born. Nobody gets away with taking Tenten to the ground, nobody…

"What in the world do you think you're doing? Are you blind or something?" a cold voice sounds from somewhere above me.

Voice location. Target confirmed. There! Oh shit.

Looking down on me is a **hot** guy. And I mean **hot** as in so **HOT** that if you touch them you get third degrees burn damages. Which would be pretty unlikely for this guy since he has pale skin which looks as cold as snow. His long hair reaches past his shoulders, the same coulor as melted chocolate and his eyes are pearly white with a hint of purple in them. The sleeves of his white shirt are rolled up revealing quite muscular forearms. Like chocolate and snow goes fusion equals total boyfriend material.

Why god, why did you have to choose today of all days to make my ass a public view? I can feel myself starting to drowl. Not good. Now would be a good time to give him a sharp retort revealing that I not only have striking looks but intelligence as well. Obey me mouth. Please! Must. Say. Something.

"Ehh… Cupcake." Great.

Why did that have to plop out of my mouth now? I am going to kill Nami. When I was smaller she used to bake chocolate cupcakes which tasted like heaven. I would do anything for one. So one day she decided that it would be nice to mess with my mind a bit. She told me that unless I only said 'cupcake' and nothing else for a whole week she would never bake anything ever again. It took me a whole month before I could do it, and then it took me two months to be able to talk normally again. It still haunts me when I'm in tight situations.

Choco stares at me. Yes, he has a nickname, so what? I mean I think I have that right since I just head-butted him.

"Does that mean ' I'm so sorry sir it was all my fault. Please forgive me' in your language, panda?"(1) he asks raising one eyebrow contemptuous.

Oh no, he did not call me _panda_. Now he was going down.

"Ehh… Yes." What?! Was that my voice? That was not what I was going to say. Has the brain-mouth connection broken down or what is happening to me?

"Good." He turns around and walks on as if nothing has happened. Jerk. Where did I look when I thought he was handsome? Not at those lean and muscular arms, or how the wind catches his smooth hair, or… Stop. Snap out of it Tenten. I must be dissy from the fall or something. Yes that must be it. He didn't even ask if I was ok, or give me a hand up. I'm glad I'm not gonna see him again.

**

* * *

**

A/N:

So here we go. First chapter of first story, re-written. I was so unsatisfied with the first version that I just had to. I have no idea if this is good or not, actually I think I would appreciate flames more than normal reviews so I know how to improve. But I don't demand reviews just to continue.

Also I am very unsure of the title. It may change if I can't take it. Suggestions of title is welcome.

(1) Refers to Tenten's panda buns on her head


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Hehehe… Yes I decided to update. Even though I'm pretty sure I hate this story now I can't just leave it unfinished. No matter how much I would like this to only be like three chapters I don't know if that's possible. Oh well.

* * *

I'm walking over the school yard slowly, looking up at the huge building before me. And not just in front of me, there are two buildings the same size on either side of me. This place if freakin' _humongous_. If I can't get a map I bet I'll die from starvation if I get lost. Considering how fantastic my sense of orientation is (not…), I'm quite impressed with myself. It only took me seven minutes to get here, and that's if you count the two-minute meeting with Choco.

But map. Yes. That would be the office. Now how do I get there without a map?

"You lost?" I hear somebody ask me from behind. I turn around and see a a pair of crystal blue eyes in a tanned face giving me a curious look from under spiky blond hair. He is wearing the same uniform as me (except for the pants, you didn't really think he wore a skirt did you?), but somehow it looks very… orange. Which is quite mysterious since the uniform actually is black and white as far as I can see.

"Yes, a bit. It's my first day and I'm trying to find the office. I think I'll need some sort of map to survive this." I make a random gesture toward the school buildings. He nods understanding.

"M-hm, I know how it feels. I nearly fainted first time I saw this place. But you'll find your way around in no-time. That's a definite promise!" He grins at me. Wider and wider. Five seconds. 10 seconds. 15… Something's gonna break. 20 seconds. Ok, you _can't_ smile that wide. I need to stop him before he hurts himself.

"So do you know where it is?" I ask him cautiously, not making any sudden moves just in case.

"Where what is?" Orange-boy (he's practically radiating orange, there's no avoiding it) stops smiling and looks at me in utter confusion. What a weird guy. His mood swings could rival Nami's. Suddenly his face lits up.

"You mean AH…!"

"Gotcha Naruto! You've grown lazy if you can't even detect somebody sneaking up on you."

Ah, love between friends. There's no better way to show affection than slamming your friend to the ground with a nice punch in the head. At least not for this guy, apparently. He is about the same height as orange-boy and wears the same uniform with black-and-white vans. His hair is short and messy and sort of brownish. But it's looks wrong. It should be longer, and a deeper colour, and not so much messy as smooth and light, flying about as the wind plays with it...

Ehrm yes. I mean no, I'm not thinking of anyone in particular. I'm not! And whats the deal with his eyes? The pupils sp? are so narrow, and together with that pointy grin he reminds me of a canine. Nice tattoos though. Not many persons would dare to have a big red triangle on each side of their cheeks, but it works for him.

"Can't wait to hook up with a girl I see?" What? Me and Orange-boy? Dream on doggy.

Orange-boy growls (I should think of him as Naruto now, but his nickname kinda stuck).

"Anyways," Doggy says, "Whats the deal? I thought you had a thing for Sakura? You didn't seem like you had given up last time I saw you, even though she keeps telling you to screw off somewhere. You know she is a total Sasuke-squealer, together with Ino and Karin and those bitches. She's not worth you." For a moment he gets a hurt expression in his face, but then it's gone so fast I'm not sure if I imagined it. Instead he looks me over with an appreciating look in his eyes.

"You look really hot by the way. The name's Inuzuka Kiba, and I'm very available, for anything you might have in mind. Especially after school. What's your name?" 'Anything **I** might have in mind?' Ok, I think I need to correct things before this goes to far.

"Er, thanks. My name is Tenten and actually d… Kiba, ora… I mean Naruto here (damn it) is trying to help me out. I'm kinda lost, and this place isn't exactly small. If you two could show me where the office is I'd be really grateful." I smile a sweet smile. Or at least I try. Nami says sweet isn't really my thing.

"They do have maps, right?" I ask.

Kiba laughs. Naruto writhes under my confused gaze.

"Didn't I say that Tenten?" Naruto says with a guilty expression.

"We don't have any maps here. It's pretty stupid but that's the school's tradition. We all get special ID-cards that we're supposed to use whenever we leave school, that way they now if somebody still is stuck somewhere."

"And then we come rescue you!" Kiba exclaims proudly.

"What we? Who?" I ask even more confused.

"The School Search Patrol. A couple of Junior and Senior students get paid by the school to search the corridor for 'left-overs'. Me and Naruto are in it, it's easy money. I promise I would find you no matter how long it would take me." I'll just pretend I didn't see that wink.

"Cut the cheese Kiba, you're freaking her out," Naruto says. He turns to me.

"It's become a challenge, the person with the least late arrivals and who manages to leave school as early as possible after their schedule has ended get a prize. Also no one is allowed to give instructions to the beginners."

"Ok. That's normal," I say with a neutral voice at the same time as I try to edge away slowly. Now where's the exit? I'm sure I saw it somewhere. It shouldn't be to late for Nami to find another school to enroll me in.

Hold on a second…

"Who is that?"

"Who?"Kiba turns around toward the entrance of the main building to see what I mean. A tall guy with long brown hair hanging loosely around his face is standing at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the doors, talking with a crowd of girls. Talking in this case means being screamed and squealed at while looking extremely annoyed. ("Oh my god Neji I love you _forever_!" "Marry me!" "I'm the right girl for you, trust me!" you get the picture)

"That's Hyuuga Neji. A self-centered bastard," Naruto says.

"Don't bother with him, he already has a fan-club."

"Three actually. He's so full of him self you're surprised he needs to eat," Kiba ads scornfully. sp?

Dilemma. Apparently Choco goes here. Not that I care or anything. Although this place doesn't seem so bad after all, Kiba and Naruto are cool. There's a price to win. I like prices. Perhaps it's chocolate? And look at the beautiful surroundings; there's trees. And trees. And treeeeees. Fine it's a bloody forest. Though I bet they have gym, how else would people stay in shape, run around the forest dodging the wild animals? They wouldn't…?

"Hello, Earth to Tenten? I'm sorry but we have to go now. There's a SSP meeting in five minutes. It will probably take half an hour or so, so we might be a little late for the principal's speech. We'll see you in the assembly hall, it's the left building, second floor, first door to the right, you can't miss it. See ya!" Wanna bet?

They walk off in a hurried pace before I can respond. It's ok, I can find my way without them. Totally. Left building, third floor? Something like that.

Hey, what is she doing? A short blue haired girl sneaks out from a tree shadow, following Kiba and Naruto. Her face (what you can see of it, most of it is hidden behind a pair of big sunglasses and a hood) is fixed on the couple as she avoids the stream of students going toward the left building quite skillfully. Nobody seem to notice her, even though there's a lot of people in the school yard she doesn't bump into anyone.

"Hey blueberry!" I call to her as she passes by me. She stops and looks at me.

"Stealthy."

"Thanks," she says with a small smile and continues after Kiba and Naruto. Sigh. I want a stalker too.

* * *

Inside the assembly hall the noise level is almost unbearable. Why can't people just _shut up_? It's fucking nine o'clock in the morning. I neeeeed my coffee nooooow. I can almost smell it. That bitter aroma that just gives you a kick. Am I hallucinating or do I smell coffee? I look around to find the source of this heavenly scent. There, on my right side. A guy with a black bowl cut is looking straight down into his lap, furiously writing in a note pad, you can't see his eyes because his fringe right word? hides them. His coffee is on the table in front of him (1), innocent, tempting and oh so delicious. A small sip won't hurt, he wont even notice, he's writing away like there's no tomorrow.

Slowly, slowly. So close I can feel my hand getting warmer. Please God, I need this. I see something blurry in the corner of my eye.

_Grab_

"Hi! My name is Rock Lee. It is a true pleasure to meet you."

Don't panic. Don't scream. Above all, do not faint. You can do this, you're a big girl Tenten. They're not that big. Of course they won't bite, it's eyebrows for Christ's sake.

Right?

Shaking my hand like there is nothing in the whole world he would rather do is the Freak of **Freaks**. What hits me isn't the spandex suit (although why isn't he wearing a uniform like the rest of us? That thing has to be illegal), it isn't that blinding shine-brighter-than-the-sun smile. It's his eyes. Or rather, should I say, the _things_ above his eyes. They're hypnotizing me, I can't move. Like a snake catches its prey; I'm the prey and the snake is… well guess. Did he says something? My face must have shown something because he repeats his question.

"I said, may I inquire for your name my fair lady?"

Think fast. What have I learned in my life? Never give out your name to creepy strangers. Make something up.

"Cupcake." I think I'm going crazy.

* * *

**A/N: **I made it. wow. It's more then 1500 words. Please review and let me now if you want me to continue this story, if it's the funniest thing you've ever read, if you hate fan-girls (join the I-hate-fan-girls club), if I've missed some spelling mistake or if something just doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Flames are more than welcome.

(1) You know in an assembly hall you have rows of chairs with tables on their backs


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **I can't believe it, we're already at chapter number 3! Now I think I actually have a plan about what's going to happen in this story. All the reviews made me very happy. Thanks a bunch! The reason that this chapter came up so fast is that I was sick today and couldn't go to school. So I thought I might as well finish this. Updates will come with one week intervals, hopefully.

To all you people who put on alert, fav or reviewed I give a Nami chocolate cupcake each. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but I do claim full copyright to the cupcake-concept. (Hah! bet you didn't think I would do that, huh, MJ?)

* * *

"… and then, you can't guess what he did." Help me. 

"He punched straight through the wall! Gai-sensei is the coolest. I'm his personal assistant, did I say that?" Only like five times.

"That's why I can have this wonderful outfit. It's a special gift from Gai-sensei. My goal is to become just as great a teacher as him, for that I am willing to sacrifice everything." A fire starts burning in his eyes.

"You should join me in my quest for youth, Cupcake-chan!" Ehr, no thanks. I'll wear spandex the day… No, I'll never wear spandex.

He starts blabbering about his oh so wonderful and amazing and lovely Gai-sensei again. I sigh. Can't the principal start talking soon? For the past 3 minutes and 42 seconds (you would have counted too if you were in my position) this Rock Lee has been talking non-stop, and what's worse, in the tiny pauses he takes in between for air he is drinking up _my coffee_. It's a cruel world. But he does seem kind of nice. In a weird freakish very green way. I should at least try to be polite and do my half of this one-sided conversation.

"I think we might have a connection Cupcake-chan. It feels like I've known you for quite some time," Lee says looking at me with is head tilted to the side.

"Really? I'm sure I would have eh…. remembered you if I had met you before. You stand out from the crowd. But you know, my name's not 'cupcake', it's Tenten. I just said that because, well, my sister. Long story, very boring."

"Oh," Lee says, looking sad. What did I do? His voice sinks to a whisper as he continues.

"But I thought it was a really nice name, unique. Like we had something in common. Not many people are called Rock Lee either. And I think 'Cupcake-chan and Rock Lee' has quite a nice ring to it. We could have been…" His voice trails of and he looks down into the floor his cheeks flushed. Oh no, now he looks really depressed. I need to cheer him up.

"Maybe there's other things we have in common. Let's see… I like physical activities: working out in the gym, martial arts - I'm a black-belt- and I would like to try basketball. Mornings are nice if you can spend them in bed. I have a big sister who see's me as her personal guinea pig. I've transferred here from Sunagakure, it's my Junior year." I chirp happily, pretending not to notice how embarrassed he seems to be. It works, he brightens up, fire returning to his eyes.

"Martial arts? Gai-sensei is the leader for the martial arts club in this school," He seems overjoyed by this. Maybe I should stay away from martial arts after all, if this Gai-sensei is the teacher. Even though Lee seems to worship him as a god, I couldn't avoid hearing some things that didn't entirely speak to his advantage. Running 5 km in as many minutes for warm-up was one of them.

"And Neji here is the youthful captain of the basketball team." He motions to someone behind me. 'Neji here'? I freeze. One second. Five seconds. 10 seconds. This is ridiculous, I should just turn around already. Somebody puts a hand on my shoulder and an electric jolt runs through my body.

"Could you move? You're in my way." Glacial, distant and flawless. A voice that chills you so much that it feels like you could walk through the burning fires of hell, and yet makes you so warm that you wonder who turned up the heat. Suddenly I feel like I can move and I turn my head to see **him**. How come I didn't notice his clothing before? Probably because I was to busy staring at his face (which by the way, if I didn't mention it, is perfect). He is wearing the Konoha High School uniform, and just like Naruto managed to make it orange Choco makes it look like a tux from Armani. Have you ever seen a school uniform? The you should now that's no mean feat. Yes I'm staring my eyes out, so what? You're just jealous Choco's delicious body isn't 5 inches from **you**.

Suddenly I feel hollow, like something's missing. I look at my shoulder where his hand no longer rests. It looks oddly foreign. What is happening to me? _Nobody_ has ever affected me this way. Perhaps I'm coming down with something.

"Well? Today?" He asks impatiently. The way he furrows his brow when he's annoyed is simply adorable. You just want to reach out and… NO! Bad Tenten, bad! Think of what you should do instead. If I stay sitting he has to talk again, and I can enjoy his melodic voice. On the other hand if I stand up he has to walk past me, and since there's by no means a big space between the tables and the chairs he will have to press his body against mine. Decision made.

I rise slowly not saying a word. My mouth doesn't feel very reliable at the moment. He gives me an annoyed and puzzled look and starts to walk toward Lee. In order to pass me he has to turn and face me. We are so close, there's absolutely no space between our bodies. The feeling of his lean and muscular body against mine sends shivers down my spine and gives me thoughts that I think most commonly are classified as indecent. I need to hold on to something if I'm not to fall over. My hand finds the back of my chair and I lean my body slightly back wards to increase the distance between us, not because I want to but because otherwise I **will** faint. Stupid body that won't obey me.

I close my eyes. If I look into those creamy pools of calmness I think I'll lose control and do something I would perhaps enjoy now ( I can think of a few things, can't you?), but regret a thousand times later (sigh). Is it my imagination or is he leaning forward? I can feel his hot breath against my nose and squeal my eyes shut tighter. My legs turn to jelly and my skin is prickled by goosebumps. What is he doing? Ruining my plan for not fainting that's for sure.

"You… I've seen you before." His voice isn't cold as much as cool. Still it makes me shiver. Seriously, I need to get a grip.

"Yes," he continues, "Pink panties right, _panda_?" What?

_-flashback-_

It is better running for your life when the sky is blue and a cool wind is blowing. At least it is nice until you run into somebody.

"Ouch." I rub my back with my hand looking around for the the hindrance that was going to get a piece of my mind. Looking down on me is a **hot** guy. And I mean **hot** as in so **HOT** that if you touch them you get third degrees burn damages. Why god, why did you have to choose today of all days to make my ass a public view?

_-end of flashback-_

_Smack_

My fist makes contact with his face –his left cheek to be more precise- where a smirk was forming. How dare he. Pervert. From the corner of my eye I see Lee staring at us with horror written in his face. I don't care. He pulled it down on himself. Choco's face goes from expressing shock and pain to rage to blank nothing. A big red mark is forming on the left side of his face. Hm. Not big enough. I decide to put a knee in his groin, rather forcefully. He gasps. That must have hurt. It's not all advantages being a big strong boy is it?

"Oops. I didn't mean… how clumsy of me." I say batting my eyelashes innocently. He gives me the death glare.

"You little-" I cut him off.

"Call me 'bitch' and it will be the last thing you ever do as a _man_." The look of horror on Choco's face is rather pleasing, but it would be wise to find another seat before he regains composure. He is sending me threatening vibes and in my opinion I'd do better putting some distance between us.

"I'm sorry Lee, see you later," I say and walk away.

* * *

I look at the stage which is swarming with teachers running back and forth. I can see a tall blonde woman making her way to the center where a microphone is placed. As she passes them the teachers go to stand in a line at the back, facing the crowd. She puts the microphone on and a crackling noise is heard. The room settles down. This is going to be one long morning. No coffee, no breakfast, not enough sleep. I look around, everyone is concentrating on the principal. She's talking about the ID-cards or something. I yawn and lean back against the wall at the end or the room. I already know this stuff. A quick nap won't hurt. 

"I saw you talking to Neji-nii-san," I hear a light voice to the left of me say. I spin around. It's the blueberry girl. She is also leaning against the wall, her gaze intently fixed on the crowd of students. Although we're inside she's still wearing the sun glasses and her hood. How could I miss her? It's like she has a wall of invisibility around her.

"Nii-san? Is he your brother?"

"Not really," She turns her gaze toward me.

"We are cousins. You two didn't seem to get along well. If he did something shameful I apologize. He is a disgrace to the Hyuuga name." Cousins? She does actually remind me a bit of Choco. Like him she seems to be on a level above us "normal" people (any one thinking "Tenten is _normal _"? will die a horrible death tonight), but in her case it's not in a bad way. I want to get to know her. Just because her cousin is a jerk -and a devilishly handsome one too- it doesn't have to mean she is.

"It doesn't matter. He's the one who should apologize, not you."

"Neji-nii-san never apologizes. That's why I have to. My name is Hyuuga Hinata, nice to meet you." She bows. Without thinking I bow too. It's something about her that just makes you want to be polite.

"Tenten. Nice to meet you too."

"We should listen to Tsunade-sama," she says. I nod and switch my attention to the stage. The principal's speech seems to be almost over.

"Lastly may I please remind you that no student will be let into the school if they are wearing something else than the uniform that's distributed by the school. And no Naruto, you are not allowed to dye _any _part of the uniform orange, not even the socks." I look in the direction the headmistress Tsunade is talking and see Naruto stare at Tsunade with his jaw dropped. Hi hand is frozen in mid-air as if he is going to ask a question. Beside him Kiba is having a laughing fit. Hinata giggles. Aha. So that's where her interests lays. I can use this to my advantage. Not that I would ever stoop so low. Let the girl keep her love-life private, it's none of my business. After all I am a nice and gentle soul. I wouldn't touch the subject even if it jumped at me, screaming madly: "Here's your chance to _blackmail_!".

"So, is it Naruto or Kiba?" Hinata's cheeks grows scarlet red and she tries to give me a confused look (admit it, you're impressed I can see any of her facial expressions what with the glasses and all). Spot on.

"I- I don't und- understand." The stuttering. Sign number three. I smirk. She has it bad.

"You don't think I would believe that you would stalk some random guys out of the blue? It's clear you have a _major_ crush on either doggy or orange-boy. My guess would be doggy, those tattoos really does it huh?" Not for me but you see my point. Though I can't imagine either of those two as her type. Kiba is too much of a loud-mouth and Naruto is just... orange.

"N-no!" She seems shocked. Around us students are making their way toward the exits. She looks around nervously and grabs my hand.

"We'll talk about this later, ok? Please." Her voice is pleading to my better side. Wait. I don't have a better side. She yanks at my arm. She really looks desperate.

"Fine then. But I'm not finished with this conversation." She lets out a grateful sigh and leads me out of the assembly hall still holding my hand.

* * *

**A/N: **Now I ask you most humbly to give criticism on this story. I've tried to make my friend point out any faults, but she refuses. Anyone who does criticize will get a special mentioning in the next chapter (and cookies). It was really hard to write this much so I hope it was good. 

For all of you NejiTen fans out there, read this: DARE by RayneRevenge

It's absolutely amazing.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **I'm actually starting to get on my own nerves, isn't this supposed to be a NejiTen story? So for you that have borne with me this far, hang on a little while longer. There's no one more unsatisfied with this story than me.

Special mentioning to: Morning's Child and MaryJane Weasley, for giving the only reviews that came close to being criticism. I must admit that I was a bit disappointed: spelling mistakes? Is that the best you can do? Anyways, cupcakes are on their way with Turtle Mail (copyright to Imai Hotaru).

* * *

After the principal's speech all the classes has homeroom. Hinata shows me were I'm supposed to be (room Q76.H, with Hatake Kakashi) in exchange for that we talk later. She leaves me there since she is one year younger than me we won't have any classes together but we agree to meet by the stairs in front of the main building after we finish. Getting there will be a challenge though. My worst fears were confirmed when we entered the building where Hinata claimed we would find my classroom. I swear that if the architect was aiming for the maze effect he can feel proud. _Nothing_ is were you expect it to be, absolutely nothing! Two times I was on may way up some stairs when Hinata gave me a weird look and asked me if I needed to go to the toilet. Who puts out stairs that just leads to the toilets? Who?! 

"Yo Tenten! How did you get here so quickly?" Kiba asks and interrupts my annoyed thoughts as he and orange boy sit themselves next to me, "Did you bribe one of he Seniors? That's low, I didn't think you were the cheating kind." Hah. Like I would need to cheat. I have everything under control. At least when I have guide.

"No," I object, " A friend showed me." Best not to reveal any names here in case Hinata gets mad. After all you kind of ruin the point of being a secret stalker if your stalking object knows who you are. Kiba gives me a doubting look.

"I thought this was your first day. How can you have friends here already?" He doesn't sound like he believes me. Best to flatter him a bit.

"What can I say? It's a gift. Of course she's not nearly as good a friend as you guys, right?" He brightens up and gives me a wolfish grin. I don't like that predatory glimpse in his eye.

"Then what do you say about taking this 'friendship' one step further, Tenten-_chan_? I know a closet in a very desolate location. Nobody would interrupt us there." Ehh, say what?

Doggy grins wider and moves his chair closer to mine, I move mine closer to Naruto who sits on my other side. Doggy moves, I move. Doggy moves, my chair bumps into Naruto. I look around in panic searching for an escape rout. There isn't one, I'm trapped. I never thought I'd say this, but please God, let the goddamn teacher come, **now**! Kiba leans in closer… No, this can't be happening. My first kiss!

Somebody help me please!

"Ohayo gozaimasu class! I'm sorry I'm late but I got a little bit lost on the road of life so you see-" Saved. I sigh with relief and Kiba moves back, disappointment apparent in his face. A silver-haired guy enters the classroom with some books under his arm. He is wearing black jeans, a T-shirt and a… a… mask? Whatever. Nothing can surprise me anymore in this school. Naruto jumps up and interrupts him.

"It's the first day and you're 20 minutes late Kakashi-sensei! Explain yourself."

"Well you see I met this old lady who was going to cross the road…"

"Liar!" The class shouts at him. He winces.

"Anyways, I have your schedules here, so if it's nothing you want to ask me you are free to go. Just grab one of these on your way out." That's my type of guy. No unnecessary blabbering about how we are going to have the best year of our lives and how all the teachers would fill our dusty little brains to the limit with knowledge. This I got to hear from my homeroom teacher in Sunagakure. I guess me responding that on the contrary from his brain mine was far from dusty and that there had yet to be a teacher that put me under any kinds of limitations had something to do with the fact that I got detention for the following two weeks.

I rise from my seat and hurriedly walk to the desk where the schedules are, grab one and follow the crowd. I'ts most likely that they are heading for the exit considering the facts: 1. We are in a school 2. We have the permission to leave. This would help me greatly in reaching my goal of not becoming lost.

"Oi Tenten, wait up!" Scheesh. That guy is seriously starting to get on my nerves. I can only take so much from one person. I push my way further into the mass of bodies.

"So you're Kiba's new favorite huh?" A blonde girl to my left is looking curiously at me. She is really pretty (almost as pretty as me) with her long blond hair up in a ponytail and sky blue earrings the same colour as her eyes. The pace isn't exactly fast so I don't need to stop to talk with her.

"And if I was?" Can she be his girlfriend, did he plan on two-timing her? She has a dangerous expression, possessive with a threat of violence. When she sees my suspicious face she laughs and does a commercial hair flip. Whoa, impressive. She could earn serious money with that. The way her golden strands dances in the light is just… captivating.

"I couldn't care less about Inuzuka Kiba. I'd just feel sorry for you, he can be such a pain in the ass. I really thought that he had learned his lesson about bugging uninterested girls." The way she talks about Kiba gives me a strong urge to defend him. He hasn't exactly done something to me and everyone knows that you can't expect much from teenage boys.

"Actually we're only friends." I put a slight pressure on the word 'only'. She looks me over with her piercing eyes. I get the ridiculous feeling that she can see straight into my soul but I suppress my impulse to move further away from her.

"Is that so? Then I hope you have a great time together, _as friends_ that is." Bitch-warning alert. I do not like that tone.

"We will." I say to her when we finally exit the school but she's already on her way to the parking lot and doesn't answer.

"Tenten." A silent voice calls me as I stand glaring furiously at the bitch's back. Just one punch, she won't get hurt. Not seriously anyway. I manage to control myself with effort and turn to Hinata.

"Yes?" My voice sounds strained, as if I'm holding back something. E.g. anger issues.

"A piece of advice. You shouldn't mess with Ino. She has the power to make your life hell. She is both head cheerleader and the student council's president. Not to mention president of both my cousin's and Uchiha Sasuke's fan club. You wouldn't be the first she crushed just on a whim." Hinata's face is grave. I gulp. How can it be I always manage to get on the wrong foot with the wrong people? Another of my special talents. But on the other hand I'm a big girl, I can handle anything that's thrown my way.

"There she is Naruto. Come on, hurry up!" A familiar voice sounds from not so far away.

Except maybe an over-flirtatious Kiba. This time I grab Hinata's hand.

"I don't have time to explain, let's just get out of here. Ok?" She looks the way Kibas shout was heard and then at me with one eyebrow raised.

"Fine."

We race off to the exit from the school yard.

* * *

"I'm home! I brought a friend with me, can we grab something in the fridge?" I shout when Hinata and I enters the house. An eerie silence answers me. Something is very wrong. I motion for Hinata to be quiet and stay where she are as I start to move slowly through the hall way. Quick glance 1: not in the kitchen. Quick glance 2: not in the bathroom. Quick glance 3: not sleeping on the couch with her thumb in her mouth. Quick g… Huh? Re-wind the tape. 

Laying on our yellow sofa is a very much sleeping Nami with her thumb in her mouth and her arm hugging my Kuma-san! The table is a mess of old papers, cups of instant ramen and a half-empty glass with milk. I smirk. Sometimes life is good.

"Hinata, come over here. There's something we need to do before we go to my room."

* * *

"This I know. You're stalking either Naruto or Kiba, or maybe both."Hinata opens her mouth to object but I hold up a hand to silence her. We're sitting on my fluffy carpet in my room with a bowl of ramen each. I'm surprised how easy it is to talk with her. And it's not only the politeness, it's how she feels genuinely interested in what I have to say without being pushy. 

"Don't try to deny it. You've obviously done this for some time judging from how easy you followed them to their SSP meeting. What eludes me is why any of them." I ponder out in the air.

"Naruto's not as dumb as everybody thinks! And he struggles really hard to get the teachers to acknowledge him. There's nothing easier than to make him smile and he always has an encouraging word to anyone that might need help. I just…" Hinata blushes fiercely and I grin. She admitted it, now the real fun can start. -insert evil laughter here-

"Hooh. Probably not the words I would have picked to describe Naruto, but hey it's a free world. You know on a scale from one to 10 measuring how deep you're in it, I would say that you're a clear 12. But don't worry, I'll help you to get your love (for a small fee that is, but I'll take that later)."

"I- I'm fi- fine on my own." Ah, the stuttering again. It's obvious that if she was to decide nothing would ever change. All she need's is a little push in the right way.

"Sure, sure. Whatever. Tell you what, we can make a deal. I help you with Naruto and you help me with…" suddenly it doesn't feel so easy to go on. I fidget. The words that I want to say are stuck somewhere in my throat. Would it be to much to ask? They are cousins, but they didn't seem to be particularly close. And what would I want with that jerk anyway? His only advantage is his looks, and just because he's the most handsome guy I've ever seen it doesn't mean I have to throw myself at his feet.

It's just a very tempting choice.

"Are you interested in Neji-nii-san?" I choke on my noodles. That girl notices more than what's good for her. Slowly I nod while studying my toes.

"Ok." What?

"You mean…" I look at her sharply, searching for any signs of sarcasm, "that if I get you and Naruto together, you will help me to get Neji's attention?"

"Yeah, something like that." I smile.

I feel like I'm going to like Konoha High School.

**

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A/N: **Hah, the chapters keep getting longer and longer. Now I'm really motivated to do FLUFF! Do you wan't this story to have fluff? Don't get to high expectations though. Let's just say nobody (and that includes me) knows what will happen.

Hope you liked.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Here it is. Chapter five. I sacrificed precious homework time to get this up and I don't like it but it's the longest one so far. If that makes up for anything. Not too sure if this can be called fluff.

Thank you **shining kitsune**, **ninjafrogofHNM **and **Morning's Child** for reviewing.

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The air is beginning to get chilly and the sun is setting on three enormous buildings in the center of Konoha city. The school yard is long deserted, all that can be seen moving are some stray cats and the first fallen leaves of autumn being blown around by the wind. Somewhere in the distance a howling wolf is heard calling to it's pack, the supernatural sound sending shivers down my spine. 

Fine then, no wolf. I'm just trying to set the mood here. Hmph. What else is there to do when you're utterly and hopelessly lost? Especially when you have been utterly and hopelessly **lost** for approximately two hours, roaming the corridors aimlessly like a damned soul. I look out a window, by the looks of it I'm on the third floor, buy you can't be to sure. I've been fooled more then once in this maze from hell.

I turn from the window and start to walk down the corridor again. I put my feet on auto-pilot and concentrate on finding something that will lead me out of here. There! I haven't seen those stairs before. I sprint up the stairs in the dim half-light of dusk but when I reach the top I come to a halt. This is not happening.

The toilets.

_Again._

I can feel tears welling up in my eyes. I've never been particularly sensitive to the sad sight of an un-kept school bathroom but there's a limit of how many you can in so much time. 17 times in one day is about 16 too many. What pushes me over the edge is that not one of them were the same. Not only have I been to 17 bathrooms but 17 _different_ bathrooms!

I sigh, walk back down into the now rapidly darkening corridor and let myself slid down the wall. I put my head on my knees and close my eyes. The prospect of spending the night in school is very daunting. So much for Kiba's promise of finding me.

How did I get myself into this mess? I should have gone with the stream. But no, I had to find my locker to get my jacket. And still, had I stopped there maybe I would have had a chance. How naïve wasn't I, thinking that I could find the message board to see when the basket ball club had try-outs. The problem wasn't really finding it, but finding my way back again. Alas, here I was. Though something good had come out of that. The note read that Choco really was the captain of the team as Lee said. What he didn't mention was that the team was mixed girls and boys. Meaning that if I make it I will be in the same team as Choco and then I can…

A realization hits me. Why? Why do I wan't his attention? He is an asshole. I punched him. Sure he is the handsomest creature that has ever walked the planet (by far, and you know it too), but it's the inside that count's. At least that is what everyone says. But everyone haven't met Choco. I can't back out now when I've asked Hinata to help me and all. And what about this feeling? The feeling that tells me that I should just throw myself at him, hold on to him and never let go.

Suddenly I can hear footsteps coming.

"Kiba?" I call out raising my head.

* * *

"Tenten?" _'Damn where is that girl?'_ Kiba thinks to himself. He's been searching the school for leftovers for… well he doesn't know exactly for who long but it sure is longer than he finds pleasing. He lets his eyes sweep over the empty canteen. Nothing but empty chairs and clean tables. All the other SSP-people had been able to go home without almost any searching but here he is stuck. Life sucks. If it wasn't for that stupid promise. Was he really that keen on her? 

Kiba stopped and looked un-seeingly out in space. She is hot, no denying that. With those long slender legs and that tanned skin contrasting against her hazel eyes and hair. And she seems cool, not at all fan-girlish. Though he surprised himself when he tried to make a move on her during homeroom. She had looked pretty freaked out. Not that he really would have done anything. Or? He had only known her for what, two days? Maybe he should keep his cool for a bit. He had learned bitterly what happens if you push a girl too far.

Why does everything have to be so bloody complicated?

"Daaamn it…" Kiba says out loud. A whimpering answers him. He tilts his head, it sounded as if it came from the kitchen. He walks gingerly toward the half-closed door.

"Hello? Is somebody here?"

"Ye-yes, hell-hello?" A stuttering voice, hoarse from crying comes from the far end of the room. A glimpse of blonde hair.

Not her, please not her. Naruto was supposed to find her. If he just backs out real quickly she won't see him. He takes a step back. Too late. The blonde in the corner is trying to get to her feet, but when she sees her rescuer she has to grab hold of the table and let's out a gasp. He sighs. It can't be helped. Maybe Naruto has found Tenten and is already waiting for him.

"Y-you!" Kiba scowls. The expression on her face shows _exactly_ how glad she is to see him.

"Nice to see you too, Yamanaka Ino."

* * *

A person is walking toward me. Finally. I smile with relief and tries to stand up, only to end up sprawled out on the floor. My legs has fallen asleep, I must have been sitting down longer than I thought. I raise my head to greet Kiba but he isn't there. Where is he? I turn my gaze further down the corridor. The approaching person has stopped. It's too dark to make out any facial features. 

"Kiba? I call out tentatively. Doubts starts to make their way into my head. This is a big school. Who knows what kind of freaks that hang around after school time. I try to get to my feet again, failing. Ok don't panic. What are the odds that he's a maniac killer who's particularly found of chopping off random body parts, leaving his victim to bleed to death? Pretty low.

Dear God, if I've ever been a good girl… eh I mean if I've ever been less bad than usual please hear me now. All I wish is to see **his **face one more time. If you can't do that then I'd be perfectly happy if this isn't a crazy killer. Have your pick.

"Are you going to lay there all day?" Oh. God is great.

The mysterious person (who isn't so mysterious if you've got more than three brain cells) closes the distances between us and positions himself in a crouching position in front of my head, a smirk on his lips. The long hair blends with the darkness in a way which makes it impossible to tell where Choco ends and the night begins. A couple of strands has freed themselves from his ponytail and is framing is face. The pale skin almost looks like it 's glowing.

"Well?" That voice. That cool flawless voice that doesn't belong in this world. It has a depth and strength which makes you to instinctively want to do what it says. If I could record it it would be all I'd need on my iPod.

Ok, let's play it cool. Cool and collected.

"I- I can't." Did I just _stutter_? No. Tenten doesn't do stuttering. Not I, not now, not ever. I'm just a bit shaken by this whole being lost thing. He raises an eyebrow. His pearl white eyes are mesmerizing, it feels like they are pulling me deeper and deeper into his soul. I have to look away, the mere intensity makes me blush the faintest shade of pink. Thank Goodness it's dark.

"My legs are sleeping."

"Are you sure?" He asks in a skeptical voice.

"What do you mean I'm sure? I can't freaking stand! It's not like I laying her for the fun of it," He smirks again. What's so damn funny? Just let me at him and I'll wipe that smug look off his face… Wait, smug?

With a swift movement he bends forward and picks me up with his arms. I yelp and grab hold of his shirt.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" He doesn't answer me, just shifts me in his arms to get a better grip. His hand against my bare legs isn't cold at all yet it gives me goosebumps. I start to squirm in his arms but he just pushes me harder against his chest.

"Stop moving. It's not like I'm going to take advantage of you or anything," I feel a small twinge of hurt pride. And why not? Am I that unattractive? He has a well developed (no false modesty here) teenage girl wearing a skirt in his arms. Any normal guy would… What am I thinking? It's not like I want him to do anything. Really.

He walks to a window and puts me down on the windowsill so that I have my back to the glass and my numb legs hanging in the air. He turns his back to me. And stands there.

"Eh…" I can hear him sigh and mutter something about 'slow'. Who is he calling slow? He reaches back with his hands to grab my arms and puts them around his neck and then he takes a hold of my legs and lifts me onto his back. Would it be so hard to just tell me what to do? He starts to walk back the same way that he came.

The soothing sound of his breathing and the never stopping rhythm of his steps makes me feel drowsy. He can't walk very fast since it's dark and you can't see anything, and I'm not exactly light as a feather. I shake my head to clear it. I can't let myself to fall asleep now, it's the chance of a lifetime. I need to correct his fist impression of me.

"So, are you a part of the School Search Patrol?" I ask him.

"No."

"Then what are you doing here? I thought it was the SSP's job to find people after school time. Not that I'm not grateful or anything, because I really am and-" he cuts me off.

"It's Hinata-sama you should be grateful to. I was ordered by her father to come here and pick her up since she she was several hours late. I found her by the stairs of the main building together with Uzumaki Naruto. He was about to begin looking for you, and I told Hinata-sama that I would be taking her home." He grunts.

"She refused and said that she would wait here until they found you. So I told Uzumaki not to leave her alone and went to find you myself. If he would have gone looking for you he wouldn't have found you before Christmas. He's useless." Bless you, Hinata. And good luck with orange-boy.

I try to suppress a yawn without success. After all the stress and wandering around in the school I feel extremely tired.

"You can sleep. In this pace it will take at least half an hour to get to the exit." Choco says.

"It's ok, I think I can walk now." He shouldn't have to carry me for that long. His arms will die. I try to let go of his neck (reluctantly) and get down on the floor but he doesn't let go of me. If something he holds on tighter.

"Will you stop squirming around? It's very annoying. You have been trying to find the exit since school ended right? Even if you're legs aren't sleeping anymore I doubt that you would be able to walk very far. You're almost finished, and I don't want to take care of you if you collapse." His voice has an edge to it which says that any resistance will be futile.

Well if he insists. Even though I have been in more comfortable situations. I just can't think of any right now. Hesitantly I rest my head against his shoulder. His hair brushes against my cheek. With another yawn I let myself drift into unconsciousness.

* * *

He can feel her body relax and hear her breathing getting heavier. She must have been exhausted if she could fall asleep that easily. He shifts her to prevent her from falling off his back. It feels like she's gained several kilos in just a minute. Strangely enough her weight doesn't bother him. It just feels as if it's always been there, that it's only now that his body is complete. How ridiculous. She stirs and mumbles something. 

"… not the toilets.. please… anything but them…" He stops and holds his breath but she doesn't wake up. Why would he care anyway? It's not his problem is she's half-dead due to wandering around in several hours. But she feels so delicate and innocent, like she needs protection from the evil world.

_-flashback-_

_Smack_

The brunette in front of him changes her expression from nervous and tensed to furious. Her fist comes flying at him and makes contact with his face. His cheek feels as if it burns. Before he has time to react a wave of pain surges through his body from between his legs. For a moment everything goes blank.

_-end of flashback-_

Feelings deceive. It's rather the world that need the protection from her. Delicate like hell. He has to admit that he had never been so shocked in his whole life. Her innocent appearance just makes her an even bigger riddle. She can obviously handle herself, but she doesn't have a very good control over her face. It isn't hard to tell that she finds him a bit more than just pleasant to look at.

Neji smirks. This can be very interesting. He never goes out of his way to get a girl, they come to him. And so will this one, no doubt. Now if they just can make it out of this place he has a feeling that the following week can be quite unusual.

When he finally comes to the hallway he gets a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. An ache of some sort. He didn't realize that they would come here so soon, he would have to wake her up and take Hinata home. He walks to the door and reaches out with one arm to open it. It doesn't budge. He tries again with the same result. No way. The janitors never looks the door before all of the SSP people are out. The last person would go and get them. The last person…

Hinata. So that was what that damn mysterious smile had meant. She _planned_ this. Neji growls. Wonderful. They're stuck in school. What now?

**

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**

**A/N:** Please take your time and comment on anything you don't like/understand. I'm really exited to see what happens next, though I won't find out until I start on the next chapter and let my fingers go wild. The joy of writing fan fiction has turned into obsession of writing fan fiction. This story is out of control.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Ah hello. Long time no see. I'm sorry that I haven't updated when I should. The reasons are that:

1. I was too lazy and I wanted too have sports break just as everyone else

2. Lack of inspiration

Thank you all of you who reviewed, especially to **Kunoichi Hidden within Shadows**, **dragonkyuubi101**, and **Snuz**. You gave me the strength to write this chapter. I love reviews.

* * *

"Damn you're heavy. You sure you're on a diet? Maybe you should start to work out?" Kiba growls grumpily. This is just his luck. Of course the girl had to have sprained her ankle when she was trying to follow the Hyuuga and know he had to carry her around. And then the stupid janitors had to have locked the front doors, The one good thing was that he had the keys to one of the back doors. Courtesy of a bet with Naruto.

"For your information I haven't eaten anything since supper last night," the blonde on his back answers affronted.

"Are you for real? That's sick! Ok, we're not moving until you eat something," Kiba marches over to a bench in the corridor and puts his passenger down roughly. Ino lets out a yelp which he ignores. How stupid can you be? She's lucky she hasn't fainted yet. He goes over to the vending machine, puts money in and presses a button.

"Here you go." He throws the chocolate bar to Ino.

"Does it contain nuts? 'cause I'm-"

"Allergic to nuts, I know. Don't worry it's your favorite," The words were out of his mouth before he realized it. '_Shit_' he thinks. Here we go again. Now she's going to start to yell at me about how I know nothing about her and that there's nothing she loves more in the world than nuts and to prove it she'd even take a bite of a peanut butter sandwich even though it would get her into hospital. Damn stupid stubborn girl.

"Oh. Thanks… I guess."

What?

Ino sits on the bench looking down on the chocolate. She doesn't seem to be sarcastic. For a moment Kiba's mind goes blank. An Ino saying thank you and meaning it is about as normal as spotted zebra, and just as freaky.

"Eh Kiba, can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Kiba answers warily.

"How do you feel about that girl Tenten?" Ino asks in an indifferent voice. Kiba eyes her suspiciously. Can she mean…? No, she wouldn't. Not Ino, not in 100 years. He sighs.

"Well I haven't really known for that long but she is nice and all. And she's pretty good looking also. Why? Jealous are we?" He asks, the last part half joking half hopeful.

"Yeah right, you wish looser. She gets on my nerves that's all." Ino snorts, "Are we going to get out of here today or what? I'd rather not spend more time in school than necessary."

* * *

"Oi, panda. Wake up," I hear a voice call from far away. Somebody pokes me in my stomach. I throw my arm out on reflex. A loud "ouch!" comes from my left. No, I don't want to wake up yet. So tired…

"Cupcake. Please Nami, cupcake." I mumble half unconscious. Someone sniggers.

"Have it your way."

**Thud**

"Ouch!" I scream. My back hurts like hell. Who pushed me down on the floor? A quick scan around the dark room reveals nothing. A second scan nothing. A third scan reveals nothing. This is creepy. A fourth...

"Looking for something, _panda_?" An amused voice behind me asks. I turn my head. I can make out a dark figure with even darker hair. Suddenly my memory of the past day/night comes back.

"You! Here I was sleeping all peacefully and you have to go and slam me into the floor. What the hell is your problem?" I scream and jump up,"And where are we anyway? Shouldn't we be outside school now?" I ask when I realize we still seem to be inside the school, though it's hard to tell in the darkness. This has _so_ been the weirdest night _ever_.

"We are in one of the libraries since there is a couch here. Yes, we _should_ be outside now but apparently the janitors thought that everyone had left and decided to lock the school. So basically we are stuck here for the night. I dropped you because you refused to wake up and I was starting to not feel my arms." Choco answers.

"B-but I... I mean..." Ok. I am a tad bit too sleepy for my own good right now. I'll just nod and pretend I understand perfectly. Choco raises an eyebrow. He isn't fooled.

"Whatever. Just lie down," he sighs. He walks over to a sofa positioned between two bookshelves and sits down in it. Wait, did he say libraries, as in several libraries? What school needs to have more than one of these boring places? And what are we going to do now, lie down? He can't mean... That we're supposed to... No way. I can't have my virginity stolen in a library for God's sake! I feel my face turn a nice shade of red. Thank God it's dark.

I need to calm down. Breath. Of course he doesn't mean anything. Just because it's night, we're alone, there's only one couch and... Oh my God he _does_ mean that!

"Ah you **PERVERT**!" I scream at him and back away until my back bumps into a bookshelf. Damn, these things are everywhere. The books are out to get me.

"Don't flatter yourself. We're just going to sleep, perverted panda. Well, if you prefer to sleep on the floor that's fine by me." Choco lies down on the couch with his face against its back.

Slowly I edge forward. Perhaps he falls asleep hyper fast and wont notice. Yeah, he's a guy after all. Everybody knows that guys falls asleep in like three seconds. In any case, there's not a chance that I'm sleeping on the floor. I would get dust in my hair.

I sit down on the sofa. Not even a twitch. He really must be sleeping. The sofa isn't bigger than sofas usually are so there isn't that much space for me to lie on. I sigh. There isn't any other choice. If I wander off now I'll most probably end up lost again before I find another sofa. Besides, this is the opportunity of a lifetime. I can squeeze my body tight against the hottest (yes, it is a fact, screw you Brad Pitt, you didn't stand a chance) guy on earth and nobody could hold it against me since I didn't have a choice. Then why am I not jumping of joy?

Perhaps it's because I feel quite uncomfortable pressing my body against a guy who isn't my boyfriend (but if he was this would be a totally different matter, then there would be a lot more than just pressing of bodies going on...). Which is a very irrational feeling since I am attracted to him, and I'm pretty sure that any girl who get's this chance with a boy she likes wouldn't think twice.

A sneaky arm interrupts my thoughts. Between two breaths I'm being pulled down into a laying position next to Choco's body. I struggle to get up but he has me in an iron grip. The bastard said that he wouldn't take advantage of me!

"And I'm not," Did I say that out loud? Choco continues, "it's just damn hard to get some sleep when I have to worry about you walking away because you think that everyone is as perverted as you. And I do not want to spend Saturday morning looking for you again." I huff.

"Fine then. Could you let go? I promise that I wont get up." He lift his arm of me. I realize that he still has his face against the back of the sofa. It must have been quite an uncomfortable position.

We're laying silent in the night and I can hear his breathing slow down. How unfair. He shouldn't be able to fall asleep either, I don't want to be the only one suffering here. I shudder. Despite me being back to back with Choco not much heat passes through our uniform jackets, and wearing a skirt isn't helping to fight of the cold. I try rubbing my legs together to get some heat from the friction but find that I can't move around very much unless I want to kick Choco. The whole situation drives me to the verge of tears. Stuck in school with a stupid hot chocolate haired hunk, being 100 percent unable to reach unconsciousness while said hunk is sleeping like there's no tomorrow and freezing my ass off equals misery level 8 out of 10. A 10 out of 10 can be achieved when you find yourself skipping to the fridge prepared to eat the last chocolate cupcake only to see a note reading: 'Haha, I got it first/ Nami'. To my shock I hear my self sob.

"What now?" Choco growls in an a irritated voice. So he wans't sleeping after all.

" Nothing! Why would you care, jerk?" I growl back. I refuse to sound like a whining little spoiled girl. He sighs heavily.

"Tell me or I'll have to force you." I tense up. Force me? Choco seems to realize that that wasn't the best thing to say when he continues in a softer voice, "Then maybe I can do something about it and then I can finally get some sleep." Yeah right.

"..."

"I'll count't to three."

"Ok, ok. I'm just a bit cold. There. No big deal, nothing to worry about." Choco doesn't answer but starts to wriggle and almost pushes me of the couch.

"Hey," I sit up. " what are you doing?" Coco pushes me back down again and a heavy blanket falls over my legs. No, not a blanket, a jacket? Choco's jacket. Choco turns me around and uses his arms to trap me against his hard chest.

"Now good night. If I hear one more thing from you I swear I will..." He leaves the threat open. It seems that the best thing I can do right now is to give up. But that's not so bad. This actually feels quite nice.

* * *

'_This was a huge_ _mistake_' Neji realizes when he feels her small body relax against to him. Her slow heavy breaths tells him that she's sleeping. With a sleepy moan she snuggles closer to him and her hot breath tickles against his collarbone. A humongous mistake. Now he won't be able to sleep this night. His brain is going on overdrive with all the different suggestions coming in from various parts of his body of what he should do with the now helpless sleeping girl in his arms.All of them disagreeing with his statement of that he wans't going to take advantage of her. Very disagreeing.

One of her hands rests against the lover part of his stomach, dangerously close to the buckle of his belt. When she moves slightly it ribs the fabric of his shirt against his skin. Immediately red warning lights starts to blink in his head. He needs to do something unless he's going to loose control over his body. Cautiously Neji moves his hand up and down against her back. After a couple of seconds the lights go of again. This was so... how would Shikamaru say... troublesome.

Just a few more strokes and he'll close his eyes and... His hand brushes against something that almost every girl this age wears. A bra. He freezes. This is very, very bad. Before he can do something he will regret he wraps one of his legs around hers and moves his hand to her lower back.

Neji lets his chin rest against the top of her head. He will not give in to temptation, he could just see this as a test of willpower. Yeah, that's good. He never fails any test whatsoever. Tenten moans again and Neji feels her lips on his skin. He suppresses a gasp and clenches his fists.This was going to be one of the longest nights in his life.

**

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A/N:** Surprisingly I liked this chapter the most. I find myself wanting to write more and more about KibaIno. Which I didn't intend when I started on this story. Do you like them being mentioned in this story or do you just find it annoying? And would you like some NaruHina fluff?


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Thank you so much all you wonderful people out there who reviewed the last chapter! It was a new record. You made my month. I've gone over the last chapters and corrected different stuff, and I am amazed that I have **any** reviews. I realized that there is so much stuff that I need to write about that I've forgotten. Also I've decided not to write any NaruHina fluff. Instead I'll focus more on the NejiTen interaction.

This chapter is kind of a preparation of what's going to come.

* * *

"So, what happened?" Hinata asks while chewing her carrot. Her pearl eyes has a hint of... damn her, amusement? We're sitting in my room with a bowl of veggie snacks. After I sorted things out with Nami about my absence (and earned myself a week of doing the dishes since I could have called her if I hadn't forgot to charge my cell phone) I called Hinata over. 

I give her a dark look, "I think I'm the one who should be asking the questions here, miss oh-so-innocent-and-has-no-clue-whatsoever," Hinata doesn't show any sign of guilt. Instead, the amusement in her face turns into a small smile and she raises one of her eyebrows. Smile while you can, blueberry girl. We'll see how long that will last.

"For example, a source of mine tells me that someone was left alone with orang- I mean Uzumaki Naruto this week's Friday evening. Said someone is rumored of having a major crush on this Naruto. Also the above mentioned someone has secret stalker powers which she apparently has no scruples to use for her evil plans." Hinata's smile turns into an 'o', her eyes widen and her skin goes from puke-mode to jaundice, finally settling on tomato. I don't even let my eyebrow twitch. Let's see how much she'll give away under pressure.

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about." She says in a strained voice. Hohoho... Pretty good of her to still keep her cool, even though that face gives it away just a tinsy winsy bit. Very well, if that's how she wants to play it. Too bad for her i know her weak spot.

"I wonder what the headlines are gonna look like," I ponder while eying the ceiling, " Maybe 'Hyuuga and Uzumaki getting to know each other in a dark alley.' or 'Innocent boy jumped by rabid fan-girl/stalker.', though my personal favourite is 'Shy girl turns out to be a vicious man-rapist, with a distinct preference for blonds.' it could also be 'Mysterious dark haired-"

"S-stop!" Hinata shouts while covering her steaming face with her hands. Her body is shaking and the way heat radiates from her could rival the sun itself. Poor girl, maybe the 'man-rapist' was a bit too much. A memory of the morning/night flashes through my head.

_Strings._

I feel the flame of my desire for revenge flare up. Screw you conscience, she had it coming.

"Please... I'll tell you anything you want to know." Hinata says, hands still hiding her face.

I pretend to think it over. Then I shake my head, "No. Maybe if a certain incident this morning hadn't occurred I would be more inclined to forgive you. Too bad for you that your cousin turned out to be even more evilish than you. Now I just don't think that a simple confession gonna do it." Hinata looks up with an almost comical expression of both confusion and horror.

"Cousin... Neji-nii-san? What, what did he do? I'm terribly sorry if he did anything that hurt you Tenten, really. I never thought... I'll make him pay, I swear. Just tell me what he did and I'll-"

I interrupt her babbling, "Oh he'll pay. I will make sure of that. You should worry about yourself." Hinata furrows her brow.

"What do you mean?"

"After being a bit, ahem, disoriented last evening after school I _accidentally_ bumped into your cousin, Hyuuga Neji. How he ended up looking for me I think needs no further explanation, or?" I raise my eyebrow at her, "Somehow we ended up in the library since the exit was locked, and we had to share a couch to sleep on. It was only this morning when I figured who could have told the janitors that everyone had left," I give her the evil eye. She winces. I have a very good evil eye, it runs in the family.

"If that had been all maybe we wouldn't be having this talk, but it wasn't. When I woke up Neji was gone, and all I could see was strings. Lots of strings. I found a note on my chest telling me that if I followed the string I would eventually get to the exit. There was only one problem: which damn string was I going to take?" I start to see red and open and clench my fists. Easy now, just because this was without a doubt the worst morning in my life it doesn't mean it is a good idea to beat the crap out of my partner in crime. That's right, she's her to help me , I remind myself.

I inhale deeply and continue, "Do you have any idea how long I spent following that freaking string around? Your cousin has one sick sense of humor. I had just come to the billionth dead end of string in the middle of a corridor when I spotted one of the janitors. It was love at first sight. So after almost 20 hours in school I finally got out. If I ever see a string again I'm going to have a mental breakdown," I finish my rant. Hinata looks shocked.

"I didn't mean to... I'm sorry," She says quietly and looks down on the fluffy carpet we're both sitting on in my room. Is that tears in her eyes? Suddenly I don't feel like making her suffer all those –if I may say so myself- excellent punishments I came up with while wandering around in the school corridors. I lean forward to pat her shoulder in a friendly way.

"It's ok. I guess it wasn't your intention for that to happen. You can't help that your cousin is an asshole. I just needed to get it out of my systems." She looks up at me and smile a relived smile. The tears turns out to be light playing a trick on me. I must admit, this girl is good. She knows how to use her –deceiving- innocent appearance.

"But that doesn't mean I'm letting you of the hook on the Uzumaki-matter," I say with a teasing tone and take a bit of cucumber from the bowl.

"Well... Nothing much happened really. It would just waist your time talking about it. Instead I think we should-"

"Hi. Na. Ta," I cut her off and point a finger in front of her face. "You have a debt to make up to me. Start working." I give her a stern look. She makes a resigned face.

"Ok then. After Neji-nii-san went in to look for you I waited for five minutes, which consisted of Naruto talking about everything and nothing while I nodded and and agreed with everything he said, before I faked a phone call. I told Naruto that it was Neji-nii-san and that he had found you and that you two had left the school from another exit." She smiles.

"He's so innocent. He could never imagine that anyone would have a reason to lie for him, and he himself would never lie to anyone about anything. That's just how he is, honest and a bit naïve but with a heart of gold." She sighs dreamily and her eyes hazes over. She's probably far off in wonderland, skipping along with a shirtless orange-boy an... Yuck. Don't wanna go there.

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. Everything he does, says or thinks is wonderful and there has never been and there never will be anybody as perfect as him. Basically, you're so screwed for him that you would faint if he just as much as held your hand."

"Ho-how did you know he held my hand?" She stutters trying to fight down an even fiercer blush than before. Oh God.

"Did you seriously faint?" I ask in a stunned voice. This girl takes the meaning of obsessed to a whole new level.

"Only for a minute. I think." The blush on her face spreads down to her neck and small smoke strings are coming out of her ears. If only I had a camera.

Then realization of what she's just said dawns upon me and I grin at her, "He held your hand! That's great Hinata. Tell me exactly how, when and why."

"After Naruto talked with the janitors I told him I would be going home. Then he gave me a weird look and said that he could never 'allow a girl to walk these dark streets alone' and said that he would walk me to my house. I can't say that I had many objections. We were walking down the street when he just, well, grabbed it. Kind of. At first I didn't understand what had happened but when we passed under a street light I looked at my hand, and there it was. His hand in mine. That's when my head started to spin I think. I guess we were really close to home because when I woke up I was in my room."

"Oh my God he totally likes you!" I say in a high pitched voice. No, it was not a squeal. I just displayed my wide vocal range. And can I help that I'm a fan of the knight in shining armor protecting his fair lady against the dangers lurking in a dark city? I think not.

"I don't think so Tenten. You see that's just Naruto. He would help anyone, and if he comes across anything he thinks is wrong he corrects it no matter what he has to do. He probably just thought of all the weird people who could be out at that time." Hinata looks dead serious and I can't help feeling a bit sorry for her. What she says makes sense. Ok, I don't know orange-boy but I guess I'll have to trust his stalker to have her facts straight.

"Maybe," I agree, "but it's a start." Hinata's face goes from serious to mischievous in a millisecond.

"Speaking of start, are you sure that you didn't like your over-night stay in school with my cousin? Didn't you do anything interesting?" Whoa. Dangerous change of subject.

"Hinata, no! Obviously I need to set some things straight here. Yes, I like your cousin. And yes, part of the reason is that he's so hot you'd need sunglasses to look at him for more than five seconds. But that doesn't mean I want to jump him whenever I get the chance." Or maybe it does, but admitting that would not help my image.

"So what do you want?" I blink. Good question actually. Now if only I had an answer.

"I uh... I want... I want to be with him. I want him to like me. I want his trust and I want to be able to give him mine in return." Did that sound corny or what. And the worst thing is that it's true. Hinata stares at me blankly.

"You do realize that you have only been in Konoha for a week and you've already fallen in love?" What?! No, this is not love. I just like him. A lot. Very much a lot. Like too very much a lot. Still, there's no **way** I've fallen in love in less than a week. I don't believe in love at first sight, meant to be together and that crap. I just have a strong attraction towards a fairly handsome boy. Hinata sighs at my expression, which I can guess is a fair bit similar to hers when she spoke of orange-boy.

"Maybe you didn't exactly choose the best person to like. Neji-nii-san is very well aware of his appearances and is accustomed to get what he wants. The he usually throws it away when he grows tired of it. He really can be an asshole like you said, but mostly it's not on purpose. It's just his personality." Splendid. I like (I will not think love, I refuse to!) a person who has it in his genes to be a mean bastard.

"I am pathetic. I'm just like one of those girls who like the bad guy because they think that they can change him but instead they end up used and broken." Hinata laughs. Did I just sound as much as a drama queen as I think?

"It isn't that bad. It's not that he's a playboy or anything. He just hasn't had a serious relationship. Yet," She adds and gives me a conspirative smile.

"You think...?"

"You'll never know unless you try. All you need is time and opportunities. Time together and opportunities to show him that you're not another fan-girl. Which brings me to the plan." Imagine a grand drum roll here.

"The plan?"

"The plan."

"Which plan?

"The plan which states that you should come to my house on a sleep over." Ok, I expected a little bit more than that.

"Why? Not that I don't want to but I kind of got the impression that the plan would help me in my lo- like life."

"Neji-nii-san and I live together. His parents died before I was born so my father took him in. You would be in the same house for a whole night." I have got to admit, this plan has possibilities. But it needs to be developed a little bit. I can't have all the fun for myself, now can I?

"Oh. But I have a better idea. I think you should have a party. Then you could invite all sorts of people like, oh I don't know, Uzumaki Naruto." Hinata immediately lights up, but then she frowns.

"I don't know Tenten. What if he doesn't show?" Hinata asks in a doubting voice. Hm. I can't think of any reason why he wouldn't come, but it would be better to be on the safe side. A dusty lamp goes on in my head (the one for brilliant ideas).

"I can guarantee that he will come, leave it to me. But we'll need more people if it's going to be any fun. And probably some kind of alcohol. Not that I want it but otherwise people will be leaving after half an hour."

Hinata nods, "Well, for the alcohol I have connections and for the people we'll just invite Ino."

"Why her?" I ask in a grumpy tone. That bitch definitely comes way down on my list of people I would like to invite. In fact I think she comes last.

"Simple. She is popular. If Ino goes to a party half the school will come too. And she will show since she is president in my cousin's fan club and she would never miss an opportunity like this." The fact that the little skank is after Choco doesn't make my attitude toward her any friendlier, but what don't you sacrifice for a friend. If Naruto is going to come to the party it needs to be a party, not a formal dinner.

"Fine. How long will we need to prepare?" Hinata grabs her bag beside her and looks in her calender.

"God must really like you." Of course he does, we're the best of pals. Sometimes. "My parents are going away next weekend. If we work fast I think we can do this."

"Next weekend: party time." We look each other in the eyes and smile.

**

* * *

A/N:** So, can you imagine what's going to happen? I hope not, all I can tell you is that I have some pretty nice ideas about what to write. A party has so many possibilities. I can give you a clue though: there's going to be a power failure. Wee! We had a power failure in my house during the break and then I got _so_ many ideas. I am really excited about the net chapter. Although I'm sorry to say that updates will be slower from now. I need to concentrate on school and those few friends I have. If you are one of my friends and reading this, know that you mean very much to me. 

Review if you want to make me really happy.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Hello! Sorry for the delay, but I did tell you that things would be taking more time from now on. To make it up to you I have beaten the old record with almost 2000 words. So be happy.

I decided to show my immense gratitude by replying to _all_ the reviews I have gotten so far that I haven't replied to for some reason.Even though it might only be a 'thank you' it's to show that I have read and appriciated it. That's why you might be getting a reply to a review you made for more than a month ago. Hope it doesn't bother you.

I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed, put on alert or favourite or just read my story but couldn't be bothered to do any of the above mentioned. You have made me so happy. I still would appreciate it greatly if somebody would like to criticize anything.

This chapter is dedicated to my wonderful friend Snuz. You gave me great inspiration and I'm very glad that you like this story. Hugs and love to you!

**

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**

Saturday

**First time**

"Hello, this is Hinata. To whom am I speaking?"

"Fireworks."

"Huh?"

"We need fireworks."

Hinata sighs, "Yes Tenten. I shall see to that. See you tomor-"

"Grand fireworks. They _have_ to be grand. I mean it."

"Is that all?" Hinata asks impatiently, and I try to recall if I thought of something else the half an hour it had taken her to get home from my place. Apparently not.

"Yes. Bye."

**

* * *

**

Monday

**Fourth time**

"Bodyguards."

Hinata looks up from her lunch with a raised –and slightly twitching- eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"To take care of the people we don't want to come. If the rumor gets round well enough there will be lots of annoying freshmen. We need big well-trained blokes to make sure they don't come in."

"I'll think about it."

**Seventh time**

"A DJ." Hinata jumps into the air, almost dropping her binoculars through which she was spying on orange-boy playing soccer.

"Damn it Tenten you don't need to sneak up on m-"

"We need a DJ." My face is grave and I lock my eyes in hers to make sure she gets my point.

"Are you sure? Isn't it enough if we-"

"No." I say firmly, and walk away without even casting a second glance at Hinata.

**

* * *

**

Tuesday

**I-lost-count-after-15 time**

"Snacks." I say to Hinata's back as she scrambles around in her locker in search for the books for fourth period. Her stuff falls to the floor with a rattle. She turns around slowly from her locker to face me with a stern expression, "Tenten."

"Yes?" I answer warily. Somehow I get the impression that Hinata is a bit… irritated. She takes a step towards me and crosses her arms.

"As of now, if you even breath a word which can in any way be related to the event called 'party' you will regret it. For a very long time." I gulp. Her pearly eyes have gotten a great resemblance to two orbs of ice, cold and sharp. "Instead I'm going to hire professionals. As much for the party as for my sanity."

I light up like the sun after a storm, only to get my face clouded again when my brain makes the connection between 'professionals' and 'money'. Not that I'm poor or anything. Nami pays for everything that I need (when she feels like it mind you) like new clothes and such. But I wouldn't say we're above average. At least we –I – definitely can't afford spending money on things that aren't even a bit necessary.

I clear my throat, "You know Hinata, I doubt that we need to go that far. 'Professionals' sounds a bit expensive I think. I promise that this will be the last thing anyway. I mean it's not like this party is important or anything," I finish lamely as Hinata sees right through me with her piercing gaze. Damn those Hyuuga eyes.

"Money is not a problem Tenten. You wouldn't know since you haven't been here for that long, but basically the Hyuugas rule Konoha. The Uchihas has long been in decline and we have a monopoly on pretty much everything. You name it, we sell it."

"So you're a rich kid?" At least she could have told me. Snacks are history. We are talking buffet here. Or at least pizza slices for everyone. And who needs a DJ? Let's hire a band and have our own private concert. The possibilities, the possibilities... Hinata's voice cuts through my fantasies like a knife.

"You could say that. Tenten, before you get ahead of yourself remember that as I said I'm hiring professional from now on. No matter what you say. You are not allowed to have any further opinions on this matter."

"Fine then." Yes, yes, yes! This party is going to be the greatest party _ever_.

* * *

**Friday**

**Party-time**

"All right kids, time's up. No more school for today." Kakashi says to us after a glance on the clock hanging over the door.

"Thank God," Kiba sighs and rises from his chair with a yawn. Like you have the right to be tired dog-boy. I doubt he has spent even three minutes awake today. Or any other day for that matter. I walk out from the classroom between Kiba and Naruto when suddenly it hits me like lightning. I freeze in the middle of a step. How, **how** could I forget? Stupid! Idiot!I know what I have to do. I can only pray that dog-boy won't take it the wrong way.

"What's the matter Tenten?" Naruto asks curiously with wide eyes and raised eyebrows. I must say that he is kind of cute in all his orange-ness. His every emotion is displayed in his face like an open book. He and Hinata should make an interesting couple. I take a deep breath to compose myself.

"I just thought of something. Have I told you about the party?"

"What? No, which party?" Kiba shouts. I wince. No need to scream if I'm standing not one meter from you genius.

"Me and Hinata is having a party at her place tonight. I definitely thought I told you. Do you want to come? There will be enough booze to go around so you don't need to bring any." Kiba makes a weird face, a combination between predatory and confident. Uh-oh. Maybe this wasn't such a great idea. I do not like that expression **at all**.

"Hell yeah! It's party time Naruto!" Kiba throws an arm around Naruto's shoulders and grins. Naruto on the other hand looks a bit uncomfortable and wriggles out of Kiba's grip.

"That's great for you Kiba. I'm sure you'll have fun."

"Hey wait a minute, you can't come?" I ask desperately. If Naruto doesn't come the whole plan would be pointless. More than pointless actually, pure disaster.

"Well yes, I can. But I don't think I'm invited, since it's at Hinata's place and I uh…" his voice trails off. So that's the problem, what happened last Friday. He must think that Hinata doesn't like him, what with the fainting and all. Well we can't have that.

"Actually, Hinata told me to invite you especially She told me to tell you that she would be really glad if you can make it." Well, kind of. She would have if she had the guts.

"Really? Then I'm there!" Naruto smiles happily. It really is easy to make him smile. I'm rooting for you, Hinata. It doesn't seem like it's completely impossible for you to get what you want here...

* * *

"See you at your place, I just swing by home real quickly to grab my stuff." I say to Hinata, tossing my bag over my shoulder and runs off towards my bike.

"She's coming over?" a cold vice asks over Hinata's shoulder as the girl with brown panda puns speeds out of the schoolyard.

"Haven't you heard Neji-nii-san?" Hinata says and turn around to face her dark-haired cousin. He is leaning against the wall casually, legs and arms crossed.

He eyes her suspiciously. "Heard what, Hinata-sama?"

"There is going to be a party at out house tonight. Or rather, Tenten and I are going to have a party at our house tonight. It would be nice if you could make it," Hinata says with a smug face and start to walk away. But before she has taken two steps she stops and turns around again.

"By the way, did you enjoy the pictures Neji-nii-san? I think she looks better with her hair down like that, don't you?"

Neji's cheeks get a slight red tint and he grunts, "Shut up," before hurriedly walking back into school.

* * *

When I get inside the house I rush up the stairs into my room and grab my already packed bag with my clothes for the party and the things I'll need to stay the night, such as a toothbrush. Then I go to find Nami in her study.

"Nami, I'm going to Hinata's place and I won't be home until around noon tomorrow. So I wouldn't wait up if I were you." Nami doesn't look up from her desk where she sits with her back turned to me.

"Is it a party?" I flush, not quite prepared to have to tell a straight lie. Dang her big sisterly instincts. It makes life so troublesome.

"Well… uh, I… maybe… yeah. It is."

She spins around in her chair and takes of her glasses. "No. I will not allow you to go to a party at a girl's house who you've barely known for two weeks. You're a minor Tenten, and I have the responsibility for you. I won't allow it." Oh yeah? She can think what she wants, but she is not, and I repeat not, stopping me from going to Hinata tonight. No matter to what lengths I'll have to go.

"Well, then I guess I have no choice." I say and take up my secret weapon from my pocket and throw it to Nami. When she catches it her eye widen in horror and her face pales. Heh, never underestimates the powers of smaller siblings. It may be the last thing you do.

"Thi-this is..." Nami stutters, almost dropping the picture. I have never seen her so upset in my whole life.

"So I'll see you tomorrow then?" Nami nods slowly, sweat drops running down her face.

Success.

* * *

I get off the bus at the bus stop right outside Hinata's house, according to the address she has given me. Outside the gate two bulky guards are standing with their arms crossed looking though. Very though. I approach them hesitantly. Are they even going to let me inside? When I decide to bet everything on one shot and make a run for it, they spot me and step aside.

"Please step through here Tenten-sama. Hinata-sama is waiting and the guests will start to arrive soon." Nice. I could get used to that. I walk through the gates staring up at the house. It's big, white and practically screams expensive. Before I can ring the doorbell Hinata opens and pulls me inside. She is wearing tightly fitting jeans and a long sleeved navy blue shirt. Her short hair is down and she has silver rings in her ears. When you can see her face without the sunglasses and the hoodie she's actually very cute. Hinata wriggles uncomfortably under my gaze and motions for me to look at the decorations.

Wow.

"I know. Isn't it wonderful?" Hinata says dreamily. Wonderful is indeed the word. I haven't been to Hinata's house before but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't look like _this_ normally. All the lamps have been dimmed down by big pieces of fabric put over them, there is lanterns hanging in every possible place and the floors are covered in warm thick carpets. The colours are red, orange and yellow. I take a sniff in the air and smell spicy incense. It's like we've stepped right into and Indian palace.

"Their boss told me they went for the Indian theme. There are spicy snacks in the kitchen and exotic punch on the porch. They've even put a fence around the pool so nobody will fall in." Hinata explains. Thank you, thank you dear God for bringing Hinata to me. Without her this perfect opportunity never would have happened. This will be so great. Only one thing is missing.

"And where is your cousin?" I ask while following Hinata out on the porch. She gives me a glass of punch and sits down in on of the large beanbags, which seems to be everywhere.

"He's out doing something. I don't know what but I know that he'll come in an hour or so. You can drink that, it's the one without alcohol." She nods to the glass in my hand and I decide to take a sip. It tastes nice, fruity.

_ding-dong_

"Oh my God! They're here already? I need to go change!" I gasp. You can't go to a party without the party outfit. Especially when you have such a nice dress as I do. It is cream white with golden seams and a red dragon on, Chinese style. It goes to my knees with a slit on the right side up to my mid thigh. And I have matching shoes! How cool isn't that? I got it from Nami for my 17th birthday but haven't had the opportunity to use it until now.

"I'll get the door then. My room is up the stairs third door to the left." I rush upstairs. Off goes uniform, on goes dress. Fix buns, put on some lip-gloss. No mascara or foundation. I don't really like the girly-girly style. Slip into very comfortable soft shoes, down the stairs again. I say hello to some people I have seen in my class but haven't talked to and enter the kitchen in search for Hinata.

"Cupcake-chan!"

_glomp_

Ouch, my back. Did he have to be so violent? The floor isn't exactly soft to land on. What was his name again? Green… No! Don't look at his clothes, concentrate. I think…

"Lee," I hiss, "my name is _Tenten_, not cupcake. Ten.Ten." I emphasize, trying not to get mesmerized by **the eyebrows** again.

"Sorry Tenten-chan," Lee apologizes and gets off me, giving me a hand to help me up from the floor. "I was just so happy to see you. I didn't know you would be at this youthful event. I haven't seen you in school but Neji has told me of your encounters." He does the nice-guy pose. "Youth is not everlasting, you should take every opportunity to follow your hearts desire." Oh. Kay. This guy is weeeird, in his own nice way though. If you ignore his choice of clothes (that green spandex suit _has_ to be illegal!) and **the eyebrows** he actually looks good, and he seems to have a nice personality, albeit he talks in a bit old-fashioned way.

"I'm glad to see you to Lee. Having fun?"

"Oh yes! And there's Naruto-kun. Let's go and say hi!" Lee says and takes my hand, dragging me off to the hallway where a very awed looking orange-boy and a grinning Kiba is standing.

"Nice party Tenten!" Kiba exclaims and gives me a friendly hug, to my relief. Naruto is staring wide-eyed at the decorations. I can't help but giggle.

"Do you like it Naruto?" I ask him teasingly. The poor boy probably hasn't seen this much luxury in his whole life.

"I- uh… Do you have ramen?" Ramen? What kind of question is that?

"Of course we do. It's in the kitchen." Hinata says, appearing next to me in the blink of an eye. Naruto brightens up and smiles widely. Whether it is because of Hinata or the ramen I can't tell. No matter which, this chance is to good to pass by.

"Why don't you show him Hinata, it's kind of hard to find. I was going to show Kiba where the punch is now anyway, right Kiba?" I shoot him a meaning glance and grab his arm.

"Right," Kiba nods slowly while looking between Hinata and me suspiciously.

"Let's go then, Hinata-chan!" Naruto skips off happily, hand in hand with a very red Hinata. Hinata-**chan**, my, my. So there is indeed hope for her.

* * *

**Two hours later**

Everything has gone as planned. 1. Naruto hasn't left Hinata's side the whole evening. They both look like they're having a nice time. 2. Everyone else seems like they're having a nice time as well. Luckily punch wasn't the only thing available to drink, as dog-boy soon discovered. I still haven't figured out if a Kiba after six beers is nicer than a sober Kiba. 3. Ino has arrived, and with her came half of Konoha high school. That's when the guards came in handy. Now I would say that the people in here are the ones you want to be seen with, and tonight this is the place you want to be seen at. 4. The most delicious creature (no, there is no other way to describe him) just entered the living room.

Choco is wearing a pair of dark jeans, not too lose, not too tight. His torso is dressed in a plain white t-shirt under a brown leather jacket and his brown hair is pulled back in a loose ponytail. Perfectly eatable. I think that I shall demand the principal to immediately change the dress code so that all guys have to wear that every day. My mouth has suddenly gone dry and I take another sip from my half-full glass of punch. I'm sitting in a bar chair in the corner of the room with a perfect view of everything that happens. Lee is sitting next to me talking away with some guy with afro hair and dark glasses, but when he spots Choco he shouts, "Neji, over here!" and stands up, waving to him. Choco starts to move towards us when the blonde she-devil wraps her body around him, pouting seductively. Stay calm. Hinata won't be happy to get blood on the carpets. Killing people when there are witnesses around is a definite no-no.

I rise violently from my chair and walk over to the slumping figure in a nearby beanbag who's staring intently at my nemesis.

"Kiba," I grab him harshly by his collar and pull him up. "Dance with me."

We walk gracefully (I march and Kiba stumbles) outside through the open glass doors on to the porch where the DJ has set up his stuff. Red and orange lanterns are illuminating the darkness. A slow beat song is playing as I wrap my arms around Kiba's neck, ignoring that his breath reeks of beer and pull him closer. His eyes are still locked to Ino's body and suddenly the last piece of the puzzle drops into place. The hurt look in his eyes the first day. Ino's possessiveness, his annoying flirting, how Ino seemly despises him, his longing face now. She hurt him; he's trying to get over her. They both still like each other. What a mess.

I lean up and whisper into Kiba's ear, "You need to make her jealous to make her see you." Kiba doesn't seem to hear me at first. Then he looks at me, nods and puts his hands around my waist. As we move to the music more couples gather in the cool air around us.Kiba moves his hand down my back. Lower, lower. Alert, alert, he is approaching dangerous territory. Right before dog-boy sentence him self to death by touching a very private body part I catch a glimpse of blond hair and raging blue eyes before I'm pushed violently off Kiba.

What the hell? Did that bitch just _push_ me? Oh she's in for it big time now. Although first I need to hit the ground, I think. Then I can get up and punch the hell out of her. Screw the witnesses. And why haven't I hit the ground yet?

I open my eyes (you tell me why I closed them) and stare right into Choco's beautiful (perfect, flawless, smooth, pretty, and so on) face. His eyes are narrowed and his mouth tightened to a thin line. Scary. Instinctively I put my hands in front of me. He looks surprised before he recomposes his features into a blank mask. Well excuse me for being given the death stare. I pull away and check out the surroundings. No matter how wonderful it would be to get lost in his eyes I doubt it would be a wise decision right now. I think I recall I was in the middle of doing something before the little skank interrupted. My eyes scan the dance floor. More people have joined in, it looks like almost everyone is out on the porch.

There they are!

A couple at the far end of the porch is taking tiny steps back and forth even though a techno song is on. They seem to be in their own little bubble. Ino has succeeded with the impossible feet of wrapping her body tighter around Kiba's than she did around Choco's and Kiba has his face resting in her hair. You almost can't tell where Kiba ends and Ino begins. Well I'm happy for them. I guess. I should be. Give it time and I'm sure I will be. Right now I need to concentrate on my own lo-like life.

"I think I owe you a dance?" Choco's low voice cuts through my thoughts. He is looking at me with the same blank expression but is holding out his hand. So my plan succeeded, Ino is no longer glued to Choco, but now what? Do I really, _really_ want to do this? Silly me. Of course I do.

" I agree," I say and take his hand. Somehow the music has gone from techno to a slow song again. ((Mwoahaha, feel the evil powers of the authors)) Because of the crowded space people keep crashing into us, but every time I'm pushed against Choco I make sure to move away quickly again. Even though he asked me to dance I feel very uncomfortable. I'm torn between jumping him (do it!) on the spot and escaping into the living room to hide my embarrassment. Before I come to a conclusion Choco pulls me to him to save me from another head butt with an oblivious clumsy girl.

"Thanks," I breathe. I feel a bit light-headed from being so up close with him, my nose almost brushes against his t-shirt, so I take a step back.

"Hn. This is a slow dance, even though the rest of the people here doesn't seem to notice." He motions scornfully to the randomly jumping mass of bodies. I giggle. "That goes for you too." Huh? Choco smirks and swiftly starts to push his way out from the crowd into the living room. His firm grip around my hand gives me no choice but to follow. Once inside he turns to me again.

"Now let me show you how you're supposed to do it." He says and looks straight into my eyes. In the back of my head I notice that we are the only ones in the room, and even further back the question of where Hinata and orange-boy are drifts to the surface. Right now, though, I couldn't care less. You can still hear the music, only fainter, but I'm not sure if I would notice if it stopped. Choco's creamy eyes have me completely mesmerized, it feels like I'm falling through air.Choco breaks the spell by firmly taking my arms and putting them on his shoulders and the wrapping his own around my waist. I struggle to keep the distance between us, but no avail.

"Do I have to do everything myself?" Choco asks a bit annoyed. Ignoring my efforts to keep at least some centimeters between us he tightens his grip with his arms and pulls me to him so that my head crashes into his chest. He starts to move slowly; one step back, two steps to the side, one step forward. All I can move are my feet, which seem to have a life on their own, carefully following Choco's lead. I hear a small snort and feel Choco leaning in next to my ear.

"You know you're supposed to hold your hands around my neck," he whispers in his flawless voice. Automatically I obey, putting my hands right under the base of his ponytail. It takes all my strength not to start combing through his silky hair with my fingers. "And you could try relaxing. I doubt that you're going to drool all over my t-shirt," he continues. Well since he insists, I don't see much point in resisting anymore anyway. It seems like all my reasons, and I'm sure I had very good reasons, not to leave myself completely at his mercy has gone out the window. With a deep sigh I let go of all my barriers and rest my head and upper torso against his chest, nuzzling in the soft fabric ever so slightly. I think I hear a faint "that's better", but it's probably my imagination, before Choco relaxes his grip around my waist as well. It feels like we're floating in a small bubble underwater, except for the music all I can hear is Choco's heavy breathing. His fingers start to trace small patterns against my lower back and I hold my breath involuntarily. The tips of his fingers are sending small electric jolts over my skin every time they happen to move the fabric of my dress. If this is heaven I think I wouldn't mind dying right now.

And then it all goes black.

* * *

**A/N:**

How did you like it? Was it too long? It really took me ages to write. Personally I wouldn't call that a cliffhanger. If you just try your brain cells a little bit I'm sure you can figure out what happened. Hopefully I will be able to end this story -relatively- soon.

Please tell me if you find some parts of the plot to be illogical or confusing.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Let me tell you something. I really dislike this story and I am completely unhappy with it having a life of its own. I am so glad that I'm ending this soon. I'm sorry if it feels kind of rushed and undeveloped. I had no idea of where to go with this story and I have never written in first person and present tense before. **Never**. Sometimes it felt easier and sometimes it felt harder. Most of the times harder. And let's not forget this is my first fanfic, it can probably seen as practicing material.

I have another story going that I'm going too upload sometime in the distant future. Vampire romance, Naruto AU. Find out more in my profile. Also I have a _long _one-shot, about dancing and Neji healing Tenten's broken heart. It's really weird, this pairing I mean. It isn't even my favourite couple and still it takes up so much of my time. Beware of the evil powers of NejiTen-shipping.

Thanks a bunch to those who reviewed!

Also I am _incredibly_ sorry, **Snuz**, for not updating this Wednesday like I promised! Please forgive me. To make it up to you I dedicate this chapter solely to you. Your support and liking of this story is an incredible power boost, I treasure your presence in my life enormously. If you were here I would jump you. :B

* * *

So what do you do when the world goes out like a light in front of your eyes in less than a millisecond and you feel so petrified that you think you're going to faint?

Duh.

You scream.

So that's what I do: I let out the most high-pitched, blood-freezing, toe curling sound you can ever imagine. Also defined as a girly shriek.

It feels like it lasts for hours, but I think it's more likely that it only took a couple of seconds before a hand clasps over my mouth and a strong arm pulls me into a tight embrace. Choco's soothing voice whispers too me, "Hush, Tenten, it's all right. It's okay. I'm protecting you, there's nothing to be afraid of," and he rocks my body backwards and forwards slowly. I relax with a whimper, hugging him tightly. My reaction is 100 percent completely irrational. I'm not afraid of the dark (well not a lot at least). But it felt like someone had poured a bucket of cold water over my head in the most private moment of my life. I have never been so shocked. I think that's reason enough. I don't need to explain my every action, even if I myself don't understand why I do certain things. It's called **instinct**.

What happened anyway? Things were going so well, and then 'poof', there goes the light. Since I'm obviously awake now (I think, therefore I am), I can't have fainted, nor can somebody have killed me. That leaves a power failure. Great. When I find the person responsible for this they are going to get a piece of my mind. In the middle of Hinata's and mine party, how dare they?

"Citizens of Konoha, may we please have your attention?" a mechanical voice calls out from God know where. I jump in alarm. What is happening?

"It's just the speakers. Whenever something like this happens the police or some other organization informs the city of the situation. It's routine." Choco says in a reassuring voice. So it happens often. Well, would it have been so hard to inform me of that _before_ a freaky voice scares the hell out of me? Apparently, yes.

"Right now the entire city is out of power. Our electricians are working their hardest to solve the problem, but it may take a while. We estimate that everything should be back to normal by tomorrow. Until then, please take care." The voice finishes its message and leaves an eerie silence. Okay. Now is not the time to panic. Stay calm and think. To panic in a situation like this would be very stu-

Chaos breaks out. Everyone starts to talk at the same time, and somehow the people dancing find their way into the living room, a lot of shouting and bumping into each other as a result, judging by the noise of it. They're like a mob, going straight ahead without thinking, no matter what or who is in their way. In no time they reach the spot where Choco and I are standing, crashing into us without any warning. The impact breaks Choco's grip of me and suddenly I am in the midst of it, trying my best to avoid getting tackled to the ground. What a wonderful evening this turned out to be.

"Please, stay calm," a female voice calls out in a megaphone and a giant spotlight sweeps over the room. The crowd around me consists of faces showing expressions of fear and confusion. Undoubtedly my own must be a mixture of both.

"I am the organizer of this event, and I assure you, there is no reason for panic. I hope you all had a great time, and I am sorry that it all had to end so soon, but if you all just stay where you are we'll make sure you get home safely." What a woman. I must remember to compliment Hinataon her choice of employees. Everything isn't lost after all. I'm glad this night won't end with a rampaging crowd destroying Hinata's house while trying to find their way out.

"In a minute four leaders will go around with torches and divide you into groups. Once you are put in a group you follow your assigned leader, they will lead you outside where we have our own private buses waiting which will drive you home."

Immediately everyone around me seem to relax, and when the spotlight goes out the light of four torches is seen from the other end of the room. In the occasional glimmers of light I spot four responsible looking grown ups. I think it would be a good idea to separate from the crowd.

I stand back against a wall and let the mass of people pass me. Thank God I'm going to spend the night. I have no desire to go back to a dark house and a grumpy big sister. Far better then to stay and make the most of the night. Suddenly I feel a tight grip around me and I gasp. What now?

"Tenten! Are you all right?" I hear Hinata's voice say, it's coming out slightly muffled due to her face being squashed into my shoulder.

"I'm fine Hinata, really. " I hug her back with relief. Up until now I didn't realize how worried I had been for her. I notice know because the little lump that apparently was in my stomach has left a sense of lightness in its place. "How did you find me, and where were you?"

Hinata loosens her grip. "The Hyuuga eyes sees past darkness." She exclaims proudly. Okay…

"And I was on the roof watching the stars." Watching the stars? Without me? Not fair! I bet she wasn't up there alone.

"With who?" I get the distinct feeling that Hinata is blushing hard. Heat seems to be radiating off her.

"… Naruto…"

"Really?!" I squeal. Come on, a girl has the right to squeal every once in a while, even though it's not my thing usually. But this is an exception. "I'm so glad for you. Did you talk? Did he say he likes you?" I pause. "Did you do something else?"

The heat radiation intensifies but I don't get answer. I smirk. Aren't we going fast.

"Hinata-sama," a dark voice says. A flickering light from a torch illuminates the speaker and I see Choco's pale face. His expression is blank but his eyes has a hint of amusement. "The crowd is gone. What do we do now?" Oh, fight the blush, fight it! Don't let it win without a fight Tenten!

"Neji-nii-san. I think it would be best to arrange some kind of sleeping quarters in one of the rooms with a fire place," Hinata answers in a polite voice. Saved. I feel the dangerous heat disappear from my face and relax, taking in Hinata's words instead. _One _of the rooms with a fire place? They have several? Lucky rich bastards. "The cold will soon come inside since we don't have a functioning heating system and it would be best if we all slept in the same room."

Neji raises an eyebrow. "Just how many is 'all of us' Hinata-sama?"

"We-well, you and me, and Tenten, and... and..." Hinata seems to have something stuck in her throat. A suspicion raises in my mind. It couldn't be?

Hinata swallows with a gulp and continues, "... and Naruto." I knew it.

Choco's other eyebrow joins the already raised one, but he doesn't say anything. Hinata spots the organizing woman and excuses herself to hurry over to her.

Oh shit. Not good. Alone. With Choco. Hinata come back!

"So..." Well that's nice. At least it wasn't 'cupcake'.

"Could you help with setting up the beds?" Choco looks at me with a steady gaze, still with that damn hint of amusement. Com on brain, this is the part where the girl goes all 'I'd love to' and gives the guy a sunshiny smile that knocks him off his feet.

"Eh... sure." Close, but not quite. We'll have to work on that one brain.

Choco turns around and walks out of the living room, which looks like a tornado has had some fun with it and there's plastic mugs lying around everywhere, some spilling their contents on to a very expensive looking carpet. As we walk past Hinata and the organizer Hinata seems to have read my mind, since the woman next to her says,

"Don't worry about it, Hinata-sama. This is why you hired us. We'll take care of it."

I follow Choco out in the dark hallway, up the stairs and into a small room which seems to be a storage cupboard. Choco puts the torch on a shelf and starts grabbing a couple of sheets and some blankets. I hold out my arms and he drops them to me. The cupboard is so small I can hardly turn around, but I manage and exit with Choco following me and closing the door.

"Where are we going?" I ask behind the big pile of fabric. It goes over my head so I can't see anything, and I hardly want to bump into something.

"Here, I'll show you," Choco says and puts a hand on my lower back. "Follow my lead." Gently he pushes me forward and I take a stumbling step. Oh my God. If he moves one inch lower he'll be sorry. Really sorry.

One step at the time we move forward. I can see absolutely nothing, I have to trust him to guide me right, and that feels slightly... disturbing. I don't like how much power he has over me right now.

"Do you want to get there today?" Choco says in a sarcastic voice.

"Well excuse me, you're not the blind one here. I'm not so used to this whole... well..." I trail off. It's not like I can tell him I don't trust him. That would be rude.

"This whole trusting issue you mean?" Damn those Hyuuga powers. They see too much. I don't need to answer that.

"Why wouldn't you trust me?" Is that a hurt tone in his voice? No, can't be.

"Well, I recall a certain incident involving a school and strings. Lots of strings actually. It came pretty close to my definition of hell," I say in a matter of fact voice. I can't let him see how much I meant those words, that would just be silly. Why is his hand trembling? Is he, is he laughing at me?

"But you know- watch out!" Choco shouts, only it's a bit too late. My foot gets caught in something and the blankets start pulling me down. Great. I'm going to do another one of those ass in the air thingies. Just great.

Then something twists me around violently and I drop the blankets. It feels like the world is spinning, but I can't tell since the torch has gone off. Before I have time to even let out the tiniest yelp of surprise I land on something soft. Or rather firm and not so hard.

"Are you alright?" a voice calls from beneath me. Not only is it a pleasant voice with a hint of worry in it, but it's _that_ voice. The cool flawless voice you know?

Guess I landed on Hyuuga Neji.

Not good. Not very good at all. No indeed.

I'm lying chest to chest with the most gorgeous guy on Earth, my legs in between his and his arms around my waist and my hands resting on his shoulders. Judging from that little huff of wind that keeps hitting my chin our faces must be pretty close. And I think he asked me a question.

"...Tenten?"

Brain error. The system has broken down, I repeat, the system has broken down.

"...Eh..."Just let me die now. That would be a relief compared to this situation.

"Is that a 'Yes sir, I'm okay, thank you for letting me land on you" in your language?" You can practically _hear _the smirk. I think this is where I as discretely as possible sneak out via the back door and transfer back to Sunagakure.

I start to push myself up, then freeze when I realize that I'm using Choco's body as my support. Quickly I move my hands to the floor and try to get my legs out from between his legs. Try as in fail miserably when Choco grabs either of my wrists with his hands, pulls them up, making me land with a 'thud' on his chest again, and wraps his legs around mine.

I'm trapped. There's no where to run to. How is it that I always manage to get into these extremely stressful situations? It's hazardous for my health, and the first thing I loose control over is my mouth.

"You're not getting away, I asked you a question _panda_," Choco snickers.

"Eh..." Time, I need time. Hinata should be up here any minute. I just need to say anything that makes him satisfied.

Choco's grip around me tightens and the little huff of wind moves from my chin to my ear.

"Answer."

Oh God.

"Cupcake."

...

Please say that that wasn't my mouth.

"I recognize that," Choco says, causing me to jump slightly due to his breath blowing straight into my ear.

"Neji-nii-san, Tenten, are you up here?"

Hinata. I love you.

Choco grunts and releases his grip of me. Not caring where I take support I push myself up quickly, then I bend down and feel around on the floor for the blankets and the sheets, taking them in my arms when I find them.

Muttering something about "annoying cousin" I hear Choco getting up from the floor as well. Suddenly the torch illuminates the dark corridor and Hinata comes into view.

"Haven't you put the stuff in a room yet?" She asks in a surprised voice. Don't look at me, don't look at me. She'll notice for sure. Don't look, I'm not here.

"We were just on our way," Neji answers in an unaffected voice that betrays absolutely no emotions. He turns around and opens a door right next to him. Without a word he walks inside. Guess I should follow.

"Tenten." I freeze in the middle of a step. She knows. How could she not? I mean, after all she has the Hyuuga eyes which sees past darkness. Or something like that.

"Y-yes?" Damn that guy! This is what he does to me, reducing me to a stuttering little lov- **like**-sick girl.

"Can you make the beds yourself? I have mattresses and some firewood here. I need Neji-nii-san to help me with Naruto."

"Sure!" I reply, maybe a little to fast, but Hinata doesn't seem to notice. Neji comes out of the room again.

Apparently he heard Hinata since he asks, "What about Naruto?" Again I get the hit by a massive wave of heat from Hinata. Poor girl, maybe I'm not the only one having a hard time here.

"Well... he is a little... drunk." Hinata says in a small voice.

Choco sighs. "Fine."

"We'll be right back," Hinata says to me and hands me a torch.

* * *

"I refuse to sleep with _that_."

Hinata gives me a pleading look. Uh-uh. Not working blue berry. I have a heart of stone.

Naruto is leaning against the door frame, even so he is swaying noticeably. His eyes are half closed and he is breathing in deep slow breaths. Hinata wasn't lying when she said he was drunk. If he lets go of that door frame he is going to be down for the count.

Hinata turns to Choco. "Neji-nii-san..." I have never heard anyone sound so desperate. And never have I heard such a fast answer.

"No."

The options are the two mattresses on the floor or a double bed. The best scenario here would be Naruto and Choco on the floor and me and Hinata sharing the bed. Though that doesn't seem to be happening. I can't say I don't understand him.

"Hinata-chan, it's ok. You can sleep with me," Naruto says in a horse voice and smiles a loop sided grin.

"I- uh- I..." Before Hinata has any time to come up with an answer Naruto pushes himself off the door frame and straight towards the mattresses. When it seems he is going to hit the floor he snatches out with an arm, pulling Hinata down with him and lands with her on top of him.

"Na- Naruto!" Hinata yelps. She tries to get up but Naruto hinders her with an arm firmly wrapped around her waist.

"Good night Tenten, Neji," Naruto says with his eyes already closed. With a heavy sigh he nuzzles his face into the crook of Hinata's neck.

Somebody is not so drunk as he may seem. Very sneaky. Who would have thought orange boy was such a good actor. He actually had me fooled there. Well, I guess now there isn't any doubt whether he likes Hinata or not, only the question is when she will realize it.

"Good night Naruto" I answer and turn to the bed, ignoring Hinata's muffled calls for help. Why they are muffled I do not want to think about.

Shit.

The bed.

Which I'm going to have to share with...

"Put out that light, it's annoying." Choco calls from the bed where he is lying under the covers on his side.

Dilemma, dilemma.

I can lay down here on the floor, no mattress no nothing, or I can lay down in the same bed as _him_. Either way I have the feeling I'm going to get the same amount of sleep.

"Hurry up," the cool voice says in an irritated tone.

Slowly I walk over to the bed and lay down on my side, my back to Choco, as far away as I can get. I don't dare to reach out for a blanket since my hand might bump in to Choco, and that could be misinterpreted. Besides, the room is only freezing cold right now, I bet it'll warm up in no time. The fire is burning steadily, its one of those fireplaces that you can't see the fire, a tiled stove I think it's called.

Silence. Nothing moves, nobody says anything. This would all be okay it it wasn't for the damn cold! I am not weak, I will not give in to temptation. I shift a bit to get some tiny friction to warm me, then I shift again. This is not helping.

When I start to shift a third time an arm sneaks around me and pulls me towards Choco. I shut my eyes closed and put my hands in front of me. Immediately warmth starts to spread throughout my body as a blanket falls over me and my hands come in contact with Choco's chest.

"You have a thing for not telling people when you're uncomfortable, instead choosing to annoy the hell out of them, don't you?" Choco says in a low and slightly irritated tone.

"I was fine! I just had an itch." It's only a white lie.

"Right."

For a moment we lay in silence, I don't dare to move for the fear of what Chocomight do. Even so it's not uncomfortable. Far from it actually. My tensed body starts to relax and I let the sensations register in my brain. The fabric of the cover is soft, almost like it's not a blanket, the shared body heat is warming my freezing toes quite nicely and there is a very pleasant smell. Something I can't define, but definitely a good smell. I take a deep breath with my noose. A very good smell.

"Cho-" I cut myself of in the last second. That was close. On of the disadvantages of thinking of a person with a nick name, you get troubles remembering their real name.

"N- Neji," I whisper. That felt strange. But his name has quite the nice ring to it, even better than 'Choco' actually, and it really is silly to go around thinking of a person with a name that he doesn't have.

"What?" Choco, I mean _Neji_ whispers back after a moment of silence.

"This bed smells nice."

Choco- _Neji_ chuckles softly, his holders bouncing up and down. "Why thank you." What does he mean? Is it a compliment to him that I say that a bed in his house smells nice?

"No, but this happens to be my bed." Oh no, I talked out loud agai- what? His bed? I am lying together with Cho- **Neji** in _his bed_? I feel my body tense up from my toes to my ears.

"What's the big deal?" Neji asks suspiciously. I don't answer. My mouth feels very dry all of a sudden. This party/sleep over was definitely a bad idea.

A hand starts moving in circles over my back. If possible I tense up even more.

"Tenten. Relax." Neji's whispers in my ear, his hot damp breath on my skin sends a shiver through my body. His other had makes it way up to my neck and starts caressing my skin with gentle strokes. Without thinking I nuzzle a bit closer with my head, stretching my neck to expose it more. Responding to my movements Neji turns the strokes into small circles with the tip of his fingers. Damn him for finding my weak spot.

"Better?"

Mute, I nod against his chest. Please God, don't let him stop, his touch is not if this world.

"So, let's do an exchange. I give you a massage and you answer my questions?" That's unfair, like I could go against him now anyway.

"Okay," I whisper in such a small voice I'm unsure if he even hears me. His hands presses against my shoulders and I hear him take a deep breath.

"First, the 'cupcake' business." Well that's an easy one.

"I have a big sister. As all older siblings she sees me as her private guinea pig. One day she figured she would do an experiment. She told me that I wouldn't be allowed to eat her chocolate cupcakes before all I said was 'cupcake' for a whole week. Not doing it was not an option, her cupcakes are delicious and extremely addicting. It took me a while to manage, and I still can't shake the experience." All of this I say very fast, not stopping to se if Neji has any questions. It really is a rather embarrassing memory.

"So whenever you loose control over yourself that's what comes out of your mouth?"

"Basically, yeah," I sigh. Neji chuckles. Well I can't help it! It's not like I want it to happen.

"If your sister has such control over you, why did she allow you to go to a girl's party whom you barely even know?" Valid question, and if she had had a choice she sure wouldn't have either. Too bad for her that I have figured out her evil ways.

"Black mail. I had some pictures of her in a rather compromising situation. Hinata helped me to arrange them when she was at my place once." That was so much fun. Poor Nami, really. And I'm not so stupid that I only took one photo, I bet I have enough to last a life time.

"You sure are different," Neji says in an amused voice.

"It's a talent," I reply, not sure whether to take it as a compliment or not.

"So…" Neji's hands starts to work wonders with my lower back and I moan. Not a load moan, it was barely audible in fact, but still, I moaned! I feel my face heat up. Now that's a way to ruin the mood. Embarrassed I start to push away from Neji's body. Before I get very far a strong arm around my waist pulls me back and a hand grabs both of my wrists, pulling my arms up above my head.

"What did I tell you about tensing up?" Neji scolds me. His arm pulls back from my waist and instead he lets his fingers wander over my flushed face.

"I- you- eh…" Right. Answer. That would be a lot easier if he just could keep his fingers to himself for a second.

Almost like the touch of feathers at one moment, then the next the tips presses down with a bit more force while tracing my features: my my forehead, my nose, my cheeks. When he reaches my lips I let out a small gasp. This could definitely be the meaning of 'sweet torture'.

"S-stop," I breathe out shakily. "P-please." This is not how I want to feel, weak, having no power over neither my actions nor my reactions. I mean, it's great to get attention from the hottie that I happen to have a tiny attraction to (and that's all it is, damn it), but it's not so great being rendered completely helpless by the smallest touch.

"On one condition," Neji whispers huskily in my ear. (1) This is when any normal person would have gotten bad vibes and said no, but that's not so easy when your brain has transformed into a pile of goo. That complicates the decision making process quite a bit.

"Eh…yes?"

"You sleep in my arms tonight," Neji says simply. He says it like it would be the most normal thing to do, like it would be strange for me not to do this.

"Where's the catch?" I ask suspiciously after I manage to muster up enough brain activity to think it through.

"Nothing. Just good old honest desire for body heat. And don't worry, I'll keep my hands to myself." Even though his answer comes without any hesitation, I still get the feeling that he isn't completely honest. But on the other hand, wasn't it me that said to Hinata that I wanted to be able to trust him? Now is as good an opportunity as anytime, if I ever want to come closer to him. And I really, really want to be close to him, not only mentally I realize.

"Sure." I have barely said the word before Neji lets go of my wrists and puts both of his hands on my hips, pulling me towards him gently until I can feel the whole length of his body. He takes one of his hands and puts it behinds my head just in the crook of my neck. His other hand caresses me from my shoulder slowly down to my thigh, stopping when it reaches the slit in my dress. For a moment my mind goes into panic mode. He promised, he can't, that would be too much, somebody stop him-

"Hush Tenten, I won't do anything 'improper'." I can feel Neji's body shake slightly from his silent laughter. "But I sure like this dress of yours." Neji moves his hand under my skirt for a brief moment, starting a fire in my body, but before I can do anything he moves back again and interlaces his fingers with mine. Firmly he pushes my head forward until it is right uner his chin.

"Good night Tenten," he whispers and rubs my neck with his thumb in small circular movements.

"Good night Neji," I whisper back and relax completely into his embrace. I could get used to this.

**

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**

**A/N:** How did you like it? Was it worth waiting for? The chapters keeps getting longer and longer… I know I said in the beginning that I don't like this story, but I can't say that it wasn't fun doing the bed scene. P

Please take your time and comment on anything that bothers you.

(1) Sorry MJ, it popped into my head and I just _had _to. Hope you don't mind. If you like Harry Potter fanfics, read this story: /s/4196927/1/OnOneCondition (copy & paste, erase the spaces)


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: There we go, the last little chapter. I'm sorry for the long wait and that the updates came slower and slower. I hope that it doesn't seem rushed, but honestly I'm a tad bit to tired of this story to care.

Thank yous and a million hugs to all reviewers: Morning's Child, AngeChen, Chibimomoko, SomeRandomThing, Nightshadow Dweller, Nerd4eva, Shikyo no Amatsu Shinsei, ninjafrogofHNM, missy4eva, MaryJane Weasley, Snuz, Cloud Envy Shikamaru, and of course all of you other guys which reviewed before chap 9. You made me very happy! :D

Enjoy.

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Neji sighs deeply. He just _had _to put himself in this situation again. How stupid. In the early, silent morning he can easily pick out the low whispers and muffled giggles coming from the place where Uzumaki and Hinata-sama lies that woke him up. Every now and then a heat wave would hit him along with a louder whisper saying, "Hinata-chan? Are you okay?". Incredible how his cousin could manage to become so intensely embarrassed by the smallest things when it comes to the Uzumaki.

His attention is drawn by a small, almost inaudible moan comes from the small form in his arms as it shifts a little to come closer to him, and he feels his arms turn rigid. Very, very stupid of him. Tilting his head he looks down on the top of brown hair lying very close to his chest. The girl in his arms is sleeping peacefully, too peacefully. It hadn't even been two minutes after they had said goodnight when her breathing started to even out. That had not been what he had planned.

He moves one hand from the small of her back to caress her hair. This girl... He lets out another deep, frustrated sigh. How could she fall asleep in the arms of a teenage boy, who _clearly _has intentions that aren't quite... honourable? Even though he had said that he wouldn't do anything inappropriate, it all depends on what you view as 'inappropriate' in the first place. Enjoying an amusing situation is not what Neji would sort under inappropriate, and he had just been about to begin when she had done that, fallen asleep.

It bugs him. She shouldn't have done that, she shouldn't trust him, for that meant that if he now did anything to her while she wasn't aware of it it would be a betrayal of that trust. Of course that hadn't stopped him before when he had been in bed with an attractive girl, but on the other hand said attractive girl was never so reluctant to participate in the activities he initiated as _she_ is. Which is strange. It is obvious she feels something for him, and yet every time he tries to make advances on her she becomes flushed and mad. Even though her reactions are interesting - and amusing-, her reasons are beyond him.

Tenten moans again and nuzzles her head into the crook of his neck. Neji balls his fists and suppresses the violent urge to flip her over and do certain... things. He will not succumb to his urges, he is Hyuuga Neji and a small girl can not beat his invincible self control. A hand starts moving up his chest, stopping at the dip right before his throat begins. Neji catches his breath, his renewed self control almost crumbling away completely. How can she tempt him like this without even trying? A thought crosses his mind.

Why bother? Why go to these lengths only because she wouldn't have wanted him to if she was awake? Why satisfy her wishes instead of his own? Neji allows himself to groan, though not loud enough to wake her up. All these dilemmas, all the restraints he puts on himself, for what? He searches his head. Their encounters has not been many, but they are... memorable to say the least. Was he doomed from the first fatal hit? Did he even have a choice after he had looked into her wild, raging eyes?

Probably not. No matter which, he now realizes that she has taken up a space in his head that has never been occupied before, and he isn't entirely sure he dislikes it. Testing himself himself he moves his right hand and tilts her face upwards so that he can look at it, having no troubles to see her features in the dim light of dawn. Tanned skin, a nose tilting slightly upwards, a brown fringe hanging over her forehead, thin, elegantly shaped eyebrows, a mouth with lips so soft, and so utterly kissable...

Neji quickly closes his eyes. Bad idea. His imagination has no trouble visualizing a very possible scenario that could have ensued now, if there weren't for the facts that one, Tenten has put her trust in him, and he doesn't want to loose it, and two, he needs to see her reaction, and since she is now sound asleep nothing will happen.

Or will it? If she is asleep that means that she wouldn't push him away because of whatever her reasons are for tensing up whenever he comes close to her, and any reaction he got would come from her unconscious, the part of her that know what she really feels.

Neji shakes his head, careful not to move any other part of his body and disturb the relaxed form in his arms. He shouldn't be thinking this. It is too tempting. _She_ is too tempting for him. Whatever she does is unexpected, not how any other girl would have reacted in her position. One moment she is fiery, the next she clings to him for protection. Her hazel coloured eyes a shade darker than her hair has a fascinating depth to them, and the hair itself is always up in that unusual panda-style. How long would it reach if she let it out? Would it be smooth to run his fingers through? Would it be as luring for him as the soft, pink, slightly parted lips through which she is breathing lightly...

Neji freezes. He has opened his eyes without realizing, and moved dangerously close to her face. All he can do is to remain in place, his body practically screaming to him to close the minimal distance between them, yet it seems to be the longest inch he has ever seen.

She would never know.

She trusts him.

But the way she moved with him when they danced, that had felt... incredible.

He made a promise.

But seconds before that she had been moaning from his touch.

If she doesn't have the same feelings he will never get a chance like this again.

Neji feels his head starting to spin. She is so intoxicating close, it would only take the slightest... Suddenly Tenten shifts and her head moves upwards, allowing her lips to brush against Neji's.

That is all that it takes to make his resolve crumble away into nothing but an unpleasant memory. He closes his eyes and pushes her firmly into the kiss with a hand at the back of her head. Her lips are even softer than they looked, and much, much more welcoming. Nothing has ever felt this right, the world has stopped moving, the only thing that matters is now, she in his arms, forever. A rush surges through his body, sending a shiver down his spine and makes him move his face closer to hers, their noses brushing.

Then she kisses him back.

Hyuuga Neji has kissed girls before. In fact he has done a lot more than just kissing. He has also not only kissed girls, but many girls. He counts himself as fairly experienced, more than the average teenage boy in any case. But Hyuuga Neji has never, ever lost himself so completely from the first response. Even though both their mouths are closed Neji feels absolutely no desire to deepen the kiss, only wishing to savour this moment forever. In fact, he has a faint idea that if this goes deeper things will get out of control. Badly.

Keeping one hand supporting Tenten at the back of her head, he lets the other trace her outline slowly, from the slit in her dress up over her delicate wrist, brushing over silky fabric and smooth tanned skin. As he reaches her cheekbone he stops. He feels something fluttering against his hand and he opens his eyes.

Tenten is staring straight into his eyes with a mixed expression of shock, horror and... enjoyment?

* * *

In the dream, a fair prince is gliding towards me, elegantly making his way between the dancing couples and stopping before us. He bows graciously and asks, "My dear fellow, do you mind if I steal this sparkling young lady from you?"

The beast in the green attire releases my hand and bows back eagerly.

"Not at all good sir, I would do anything to please this blooming lotus of youth," he says and backs away while bowing to his right and left. I am torn between letting my eyebrow twitch from being referred to as a 'blooming lotus of youth' and falling over, clutching my stomach with laughter as he bumps but first into a dignified lady with piercing gold eyes and a large bust filling out her dark green dress.

A glacial, flawless voice distracts me from my dilemma. "Alone at last, my lady."

I look up into the pale eyes in the centre of the perfect face. My breath almost catches from the intensity in his gaze.

"Dance with me." He holds out a steady hand towards me, and I put my own shaking in it.

"Yes," I manage to breath out through my tight throat before he smoothly pulls me into his arms and sweeps onto the dance floor. The distance between us shrinks with every step to the music until we are mere centimetres apart, never once does our eye contact break. His skin feels pleasantly cool against my hand and I feel his strength in his firm lead throughout the twists and turns. The perfect gentle man.

Our faces start to draw closer, the music is heard fainter, my eyes close and I can feel his hot breath on my lips, and then everything is just... perfect. I close my eyes. It's almost too realistic to be a dream, the way he carefully, slowly moves his lips against mine, how one of his hands supports me at the back of my head – which is a good thing since I don't think I can concentrate on both holding it up and staying in the kiss-, and how the other caresses my skin, from my thigh up over my arm brushing lightly over my chin, and I decide to open my eyes to see if it's only me or the music really has stopped completely and the ballroom now is in an eerie silence.

...

Oh

my

God.

I start blinking rapidly. This is not happening. It's all a dream, I just need to close my eyes again and go back to sleep- ah! You can't be dreaming without sleeping, and you can't be sleeping with your eyes open, and you can definitely not close your eyes when the most gorgeous creature you have _ever_ seen is right, and I mean _**right**_ before your eyes!

What should I do? What should I do? What should I do? Eh... scream. Yes, a good old scream. I take a deep breath to fill my lungs with oxygen, except I can't. Something is blocking my mouth, I can't breath. He's suffocating me! Help- or what? He's not suffocating me, he's... he's.. he's KISSING me!

Somebody kill me now. The shock is too great. This is _not_a time when my body should unite with my brain and go on a strike. Somebody needs to do something, anything! I think I'm seeing black spots, am I going to faint? Great. Awesome. Fantabulous. Wonderf-

"Tenten."

What? Did somebody say something? Am I hearing things?

"Tenten, look at me." Something grips my chin and tugs it firmly upwards. The first thing I see is his mouth. The mouth. With the godlike lips that can kiss any girl into oblivion, and at the moment which looks slightly swollen, if I'm not seeing things as well. The second thing is his eyes, so white and violent that they resemble two snow storms. The third thing I think of is why the hell I can even see the first two things since it's supposed to be in the middle of the night and all. The third thing earns me a pat on the back from myself for actually coming to a logic conclusion in the middle of this chaos.

"Why... what... ngh?" Oh look, I can talk as well! That should get me a gold medal, even though it might not have been perfectly comprehensible. I decide to close my mouth which has been doing the goldfish routine and stare at the face in front of me until it starts doing some explaining.

"Tenten look , I..." the gorgeous person in front of me trails off and furrows his eyebrows, and suddenly a name comes to me. Neji. Hyuuga Neji. The person who just k... ki... kiss... put his lips on mine in a pleasurable way, and I responded. That I am sure of. Now the question is, was that a good or a bad thing? To give myself some space to think I start to move backwards.

Within the blink of an eye his arms snakes around me and stays there, neither pulling me to him nor pushing me away. I look up into his face hesitatingly and see his features set in a stern expression. Well excuse me sir for feeling slightly troubled here, I am just a little teenage girl, never mind me.

"Don't do that." Neji says. I blink. What in the world is going on tonight? I mean tomorrow, or, whatever. Logically, since it's kind of bright outside it should be morning, but that doesn't make much sense since it feels like I'v only slept for two minutes.

"Do what?"

"Pull away. Why do you always pull away whenever something like this happens?" he asks, sounding genuinely confused. I start thinking. It's a good question. There's always the instinctive urge to melt into his arms, but then I don't. Is it because I'm scared? No. Tenten fears naught and no one. Except maybe Nami when she's in a bad mood, but that is completely irrelevant.

I remember Hinata's words, "_It's not that he's a playboy or anything,_" and a possible reason comes to me. Should I say it, or will it ruin everything? I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Sometimes a woman's gotta do what a woman's gotta do.

"I will admit that I... feel an attraction towards you," There, I said it. Oh God, this was probably a huge mistake. "but I don't want to seem like all other girls that throws themselves over the guy they want. I'd rather stand out from the crowd." _Now_ will someone kill me, please? Was that the corniest confession, or what?

Neji chuckles. "'Stand out from the crowd', huh? Well you certainly do that." He stops chuckling, then he looks at my face and starts _laughing_. Argh, i just freaking _confessed_, and what does he do? He _laughs_. Brilliant. That's what happens when you get serious with guys, I knew I shouldn't have done it. I put on a sour face and cross my arms.

Suddenly he stops and gets a completely serious expression.

"So you want me?" he asks. My jaw drops. Say WHAT?

His facial expression stays serious, part from the almost invisibly twitching eyebrow, as he continues, "You said something about how other girls behave to get **'the guy they want'**. Correct me if I'm wrong here, panda, but doesn't that strongly imply that you _want me_?

"Eh... yes?" No, no, NO brain! Wrong answer goddamnit! I admitted an attraction, not that I secretly lust after him in my dreams.

Although I do.

"Good," Neji answers and gets up before I can react. I sit up and watch him walk over to a heap of blankets on the floor.

"Uzumaki, Hinata-sama, out. Now," He says and glares at the now stirring heap. Oh God. How could I forget? Hinata. The blueberry stalker that got to sleep next to her stalking object, Naruto. How did _she_ survive the night?

"Mind giving us some privacy here, Hyuuga?" Naruto's orange-radiating head appears in the air, looking annoyedly at Neji.

"May I remind you that this is my room, Uzumaki. Your and Hinata-sama's cuddling time is over. Go make yourself useful and make some breakfast." Hinata makes an 'eep' sound at the word 'cudling-time' and jumps up. She looks over at the bed and her eyes lock with mine, and when I raise one eyebrow and look between her and Naruto she blushes beet red. Then she regains her self control and starts giving me a calculating look. Her eyes linger at my legs and she raises one of her own eyebrows at me.

I look down and realize that all the sheets are on one side of the bed, meaning that the two occupants of it must have slept close, very close. Damn that Hyuuga perceptiveness. I guess we both have some explaining to do.

Grunting Naruto walks over to the door and opens it, Hinata follows quietly while giving Neji the same look she gave me, but he doesn't even blink.

"Call us when breakfast is ready," he says, and she nods. As the door closes Neji turns towards the bed with an almost... _predatory_ look. He starts advancing. I do not like this. He already got a kiss, what more can he want.

...

No way. I feel my face drain of all blood.

"Oh no," I say in a slightly panicked voice. "No, no, no. Don't you _dare_." It comes out more high-pitched than I would have liked. I start backing away on the bed when he doesn't stop or slow down. When I finally reach the end of the bed and start calculating how to get to the door, he stops. I freeze and eye him suspiciously. He looks at me and smirks.

"Don't worry Tenten. We have a long time before Uzumaki even finds the fridge. I am sure we could stay in here all day." In less than a millisecond he throws himself over the bed and grabs me, lunging both of us onto the matress. I gasp as the air gets knocked out of my lungs. Immediately I make an attempt to get away, only to be flipped onto my back and have Neji holding my wrists in a grip above my head. I close my eyes and start praying furiously. When nothing happens I open my eyes again slowly.

Neji's head is hovering above mine with a thoughtful expression. I barely resist the urge to grip a couple of loose strands of hair with my mouth. I doubt it would do much to help me either.

"What are you going to do? What do you want?" I ask and stare into his captivating silver eyes.

"To answer your first question, I think I'm going to take it slow and do this," Neji says and leans forward an places a light kiss on my nose, almost making me blush. Out of all the things he could do with me under him. He must have an immense control over his hormones. If the positions were reversed I could think of a number... Bad brain, don't go there!

"Secondly," he whispers and moves his mouth to my ear, " I want you."

Oh. Why didn't he says so from the beginning? I turn my head and smile at him, meeting his mouth half way. I hope Hinata doesn't rush Naruto too much, after all, this isn't a bad way to spend the morning. I put my hands around Neji's neck to pull him closer to me and snuggle deeper into the soft sheets. Not bad at all.

* * *

There. It's over and done with. Finally. I hope I didn't disappoint anyone and that you at least got some satisfaction sticking with this story until the end. In some time there will be a NejiTen one-shot coming up, and now that I have some experience in fanfiction I think that I will like it better.

Please review and tell me what you thougt, if you are happy or if you just are glad that it's over. Reviews make my life.

EDIT: 1. Just to avoid confusion, they are **not **going to have sex. I don't really see their relationship progressing that fast. Only some good old honest cuddling.

2. Oh my God, a C2! Thank you so much, Morning's Child! -bounces madly up and down-


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